A closer look
Indian Railways developed an official mobile application specifically dedicated to tracking the notoriously delayed national train network in real time. Because the vast infrastructure is so prone to massive operational failures, livestock on the tracks, and severe weather delays, the app does not actually try to promise when your train will arrive, it just accurately reports exactly how many hours late it currently is. Millions of daily commuters rely on this digital tool of disappointment just to figure out if they should wait on the platform or just walk back home and try again tomorrow. It is a stunning admission of defeat from a government transit authority, essentially giving citizens a highly optimized piece of software just to monitor their own misery!
