How I ended up on the wrong train after Quiz 2
Boarded the wrong train right after my IITM BS Quiz-2 because Where is my Train showed it as already arrived. Had to get off at the next stop and wait for the real one.
Varun Agnihotri
Python, LLMs & Cybersecurity
Today was IITM BS Quiz-2 day. Exam got over, and I had barely any buffer to catch my train back to college. Booked a Rapido straight from the center and got to the station with barely any time to spare, train was about to leave any minute.
Was checking Where is my TrainReal-time train tracking app for Indian Railways, works offline via cell tower data on the way to see where my train was. App showed it had arrived. Both my train and another one were supposed to come to the same platform around the same time, so when I got there and saw a train sitting on the platform with the app saying "arrived," I didn't think twice, just ran for it. No time to check the train number or name board on the coach. Just got in.
Train started moving. Pulled out my phone to double check something and that's when it hit me, app was now showing my train still at outer signal. Not arrived. The one I'd boarded was the other one.
So yeah, wrong train, already moving, nothing to do but ride it out to the next stop and get off there.
Waited at that stop for my actual train to show up. Had some time to think about what went wrong.
My guess is it's the outer signal thing. Trains halt at the outer signal before actually pulling into the platform, and I think the app either reads that halt as "arrived" a bit early, or there's just a lag in how the status updates. Either way, by the time I looked, it visually looked done, arrived and all, but the train physically wasn't there yet. And since another train was actually parked at that same platform right then, everything lined up to make me think it was mine.
Lesson I'm taking from this, though I don't love learning it the hard way, check the train number on the coach or the board before boarding, no matter what the app says. Especially on a platform where two trains might show up close together. The app's fine for a rough ETA, not something to trust blindly for the "has it actually reached" moment.
Anyway, made it back to college eventually, just later than planned. Not the ending I wanted, but a funny story to tell and honestly a memory I'll probably bring up for years.