The culture of these trains contrasted wildly with the way we conducted ourselves off the rails: cocooned within safe social circles, content to listen to the sounds of our own echo chambers, and clinging to the comforts of what was accepted and known. On board, there was only so long that you could sit in isolation before you became an outcast, as everyone else let down their guard and interacted. Perhaps it was the pace with which we lumbered along that catalysed the process of coming together in a shared experience of slowness and calm, where we were all compelled to listen, to speak, to
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