India’s vast railway network is a transportation lifeline for the country’s 1.2 billion people, allowing them to travel long distances at very low fares by global standards. The 150-year-old system operates nearly 10,000 trains a day and with more than a million employees, it is the country’s largest employer. A series of deadly accidents, including one in 2010 that killed more than 150 people in West Bengal, has raised concerns that India’s railways are increasingly unsafe. Its aging infrastructure is badly in need of modernization, experts say, particularly its outdated safety equipment. In this photo a family waiting at an indian railway station.