That is what the Sleeper Class (SL) on the Indian Railways has become these days. I was initially surprised and later shocked to realize that the 3 in 3 tier compartment has been taken more seriously. The side berths now have a middle berth ! Yes, one might imagine that this to be an impossible engineering task, the railways has actually managed to squeeze in a berth there.
What the railways has gained is additional 9 seats. What it has, lost big time, is usability.
The width of regular berths too have been reduced. Once has to be a trained gymnast, if not an olympic medalist, to actually get into the side middle and side upper berths.
And looks like I am not the only one complaining.
While the intentions of Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav to make Indian Railways a profitable PSU are commendable, steps such as the above are not the right means of getting more revenues. While this technique worked for freight trains, this is a nightmare for commuters especially on long distance routes.
So Mr. Yadav, can you kindly return to the good old Sleeper Class ? And return our hard earned sleep on rail journeys.
