Ups and downs in the Railways

There are several chapters that transcend the personal and have insights about railway policy - dishonesty and falsification of records, safety and corruption

Up the Down Staircase 

The Story of the Indian Railways  

Abraham Jacob 

Vanathi Pathippagam

302 pages; Rs 250

There are several services in the Indian Railways.  Among these, the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRES) ought to be the most important (though this isn’t necessarily the case always), because they deal directly with the running of trains. Abraham Jacob, the author of this book, retired from the IRTS as Additional Member (Railway Board), before moving to the Railway Claims Tribunal. The book has an intriguing title — Up the Down Staircase. As explanation, the publisher’s note, tells us,