The Metro Railway fire on Thursday afternoon trumped the drama of the Melbourne Test and the descent of the mercury to what Calcuttans call “biting cold” as the dominant topic of discussion inside train compartments on Friday.

From calls from loved ones to accident theories, multiple Metro rides threw up a mixed bag of reactions centred on the incident. The trains were packed as usual but the conversations showed how the fire had shaken the confidence of daily commuters on the safety of an ageing and snag-prone fleet.

AC train, anyone?

Two youngsters clad in tracksuits and carrying kit bags were about to enter an air-conditioned north-bound train at Tollygunge station around 11am when one of them asked the other: “Uthhbi? Etao AC train. (Going in? This one is also an AC train).”

The boy’s response gave away the subtext of the conversation. “Deri hoye gechhe. Uthhe por, kichhu hobe na (It’s already late. Get in, nothing will happen),” he assured his friend.

The duo alighted at Esplanade, perhaps glad that it had been an uneventful Metro ride.

Mummy, stop!

A young woman boarded a south-bound train at Belgachhia and took a seat. She was soon swaying her head, eyes closed, to the music playing on her earphones. Three stations later, her mobile phone rang. “Central aya hain, mummy. Ghabrao mat, utar ke phone karungi. (Reached Central, mummy. Don’t worry, I will call after I alight),” she said, speaking loudly to make herself heard above the sound of the train.

A few feet away, three men standing near the door were discussing Thursday’s fire. One of them had presumably overheard the young woman reassuring her mother that all was well. “My wife would be extremely nervous as well because our son takes the Metro to school and back. Thank god the schools are closed for winter!” he said.

The young woman received a second call when the train was entering Kalighat station. “Mummy, bola na utar ke inform karungi. Metro mein hoon, rocket mein nahi (Mummy, didn’t I say I will inform you once I reach. I am on a train, not a rocket),” she snapped.

Nothing’s right

Several commuters had their own hypothesis of what led to the fire. One person said he had seen matchboxes lying on Metro tracks and one of them must have caused the fire after coming in contact with the wheels of the train. Another said the tracks were “overheating” because of increased traffic and more friction. A middle-aged commuter in a brown coat and a muffler around his neck chose to play prophet of doom. “Bridges are collapsing, trains are catching fire. The world is going to end very soon,” he said.

What if?

Two boys were standing on the vestibule, a common sight on Metro trains that few bother about. On Friday, a couple of elderly passengers were quick to point out to the boys that they were violating a safety guideline. “Please don’t stand there. What if something happens?” one of the men said. “If you don’t care about your lives, at least think about your parents,” said the other.

The boys stepped off the vestibule.