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,
