In Photos: Inside The Hospital-on-Wheels Lifeline Express

Lifeline Express, a seven-coach train converted into a rolling hospital, has travelled across India for 27 years.

Patients wait for their dental checkup on the Lifeline Express, a hospital built inside a seven-coach train, at a railway station in Jalore, Rajasthan. 

(Photo: Reuters)

Bhawri Devi, an illiterate Indian labourer, thought she was dying when she started to lose her hearing last month.

She went to a government hospital near her remote village in the western state of Rajasthan to be treated, but it did not have a specialist doctor.

"I didn't even have 5,000 rupees," said Devi, 41, who returned in despair to her home in Jalore.

A patient walks past the Lifeline Express, a hospital built inside a seven-coach train, parked at a railway station in Jalore, Rajasthan.  

Days later came news of visiting specialists who would treat her for free.

They arrived in early April as volunteers on the Lifeline Express, a seven-coach train converted into a rolling hospital that has crisscrossed India for 27 years to treat people like Devi living in areas with scarce healthcare.

Patients cover their eyes as they wait before their cataract surgery on the Lifeline Express.  

Doctors perform middle ear surgery inside an operating theatre on the Lifeline Express at Jalore Railway Station. 

Patients and their relatives wait outside Lifeline Express. 

Lifeline Express has treated about 1.2 million people since its launch in 1991 by the non-profit Impact India Foundation, said chief operating officer and doctor Rajnish Gourh.

In a country that spends just one percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, among the world's lowest, the hospital on wheels fills a critical gap.

Like Devi, India's poor are caught between relying on a crumbling public health system trusted by few, or selling meagre assets to fund private treatment.

Bhawri Devi, 41, rests on the floor of her house after her middle ear surgery on the Lifeline Express. “I was thinking that I had cancer in my brain. I had all kinds of thoughts. When I went to a private hospital they asked me for Rs 50,000 rupees. I didn’t even have 5,000 rupees,” said Devi. “I heard about this train a month back. It took me about 12 hours to reach the hospital from my village... I am glad that I will be able to hear my grandchildren’s voice... I won’t go deaf.”

Bhawri Devi, 41, travels home on a train after her middle ear surgery on the Lifeline Express.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government launched a scheme in February that aims to widen health insurance coverage to 500 million people, but critics say the plan is unlikely to work unless public health systems improve dramatically.

Until then, options such as the Lifeline Express offer crucial support.

The Lifeline Express, a hospital built inside a seven-coach train, is seen parked at a railway station in Jalore, India.   

Auto-rickshaws carrying passengers leave a railway station in Jalore, Rajasthan. 

Patients register to be screened for cataract surgery by doctors from the Lifeline Express.

Movan, 77, is helped by her relatives as she gets ready to leave for her cataract surgery on the Lifeline Express, a hospital built inside a seven-coach train, in Jalor, India. “I am never going to forget the name of this train, never in my life,” Movan said.   

Doctors perform middle ear surgery inside an operating theatre on Lifeline Express.

Decorated with mahogany flower garlands, the sky-blue train parked at the sleepy station in Jalore could be mistaken for a new passenger train. Its medical facilities would rival many Indian public hospitals.

It employs 20 permanent paramedic staff, with most doctors volunteering from nearby medical colleges or hospitals.

Typically, it spends a month in a district, performing surgery ranging from cataracts and cancer to cleft palates and orthopaedics.

The aim is not to compete with India's public health system, but support it. "We cannot have a hundred Lifeline Expresses in the country," said Gourh.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal agreed to provide the second train at a meeting with Lifeline Express officials in February, Gourh said. The rail ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The train gives volunteer doctors and medical students an opportunity to hone their skills while doing satisfying community work.

Volunteers from the National Cadet Corps wait to guide patients on the Lifeline Express.   

Kondal Rao Halewale, 52, watches news on his mobile phone on the Lifeline Express. “I have been working on the train for the last 25 years. I love travelling, going to new places. It’s not a job for me as I enjoy it. I miss my family when I am not busy on the train. I am looking forward to meeting them after this project,” Halewale said.

A television screen is seen in the staff resting area on the Lifeline Express.   

(This article has been published in an arrangement with Reuters. The article has been edited for length.)

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