Click to play videoMurtizapur: Shakuntala Express, a train plying between Murtizapur and Yavatmal in Maharashtra is over 90 years old and is the only train connecting at least two dozen villages in remote cotton-growing areas that don't even have road links.
But the train's journey might soon come to a halt. This 189-kilometre long track is owned by a British company called the Central Provinces Railway, which laid them in the 19th century.
The Indian Railways has a contract to operate the line on a 60:40 profit-sharing agreement - a contract that comes to an end on Saturday.
“This train is a lifeline for the poor labourers and farmers,” says a passenger, Samadhan Ingle.
“We cannot afford cars. We can only travel by train,” says another passenger, Kesar Bai.
Despite the train's popularity, Indian railways are not too keen on renewing the contract, since the Shakuntala Express is running into heavy losses. But politicians in the region say they will fight for the train.
“All the MLAs from Vidarbha will protest if this service is scrapped,” says an MP from Amravati, Anant Gude.
The narrow gauge line, which was built to carry cotton from Yavatmal to Mumbai, now brings connectivity to many far-flung areas.
Its closure could mean an end to what's possibly one of the last remnants of the Raj in India.
(With inputs from Mansi Sharma)
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