Meet the Mumbai gangmen who risk their lives to keep your trains on track

Gangmen or track maintainers walks miles every day, checking for rail fractures and making sure every joint is in place. Here, gangman Rahul Kumar hammers a bolt back in place on the tracks near Mumbai’s bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, or CST. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

Updated on: Mar 20, 2017 1:33 PM IST

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Gangmen or track maintainers walks miles every day, checking for rail fractures and making sure every joint is in place. Here, gangman Rahul Kumar hammers a bolt back in place on the tracks near Mumbai’s bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, or CST. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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It’s endless, exhausting work. You have to carry your own tools on your back as you trudge for miles, in the heat of summer or in pouring rain. Here, Rahul Kumar and a fellow gangman head back to CST after eight hours on their feet. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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It’s a dangerous life too. As trains hurtle towards them, gangmen have just seconds to get out of the way. Here, Ramesh Bhadange checks the levels of a track, on a railway line that sees a train whiz past every three minutes. Bhadange is 57 and retires in three years. ‘I’m really looking forward to it,’ he says. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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A gangman blows a whistle to alert his crew that a train is coming. About 400 gangmen are killed every year in train accidents, mainly because this is the only alert system they have. Sometimes it’s not even a whistle, just one guy calling out to tell the other guys to get out of the way. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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Many trackmen live so far away from their worksites that going home every day is not an option. So they live in makeshift shelters called tapris. This is the inside of a tapri near Platform 6 of CST. The men take turns to do the cooking. “I’ve made a 3 kg handi of pulao today,” says Vijay Harpal (standing). “We eat like tigers.” (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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The tapri is a bare bare room with hooks in place of furniture. There is no running water and no toilet. There’s a mat the men share in place of a bed; tools and parts are piled to one side. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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The worst part of their job, gangmen say, is the lack of respect. When they’re at work, commuters - especially rowdy young men - will throw things at them or call them names. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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Which brings us to why they’re called gangmen. Think of it like a platoon. They’re the footsoldiers of the Indian Railway... (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

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They have only each other to depend on out there. The term gangmen comes from the fact that they always work in groups, looking out for each other. (Reporting by Roshni Nair) (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)