Between 1939 and 1949, a million men, women and children worked for the railways in India and Pakistan. Drawing on memoires, newspapers and government documents, this article seeks to examine the survival strategies these workers adopted in this tumultuous decade. It starts with a study of their efforts to survive the challenges of the Second World War. The article highlights how they rose to these challenges and played a crucial role in India’s war effort. It also examines how these workers navigated the demands of the Quit India movement. The article discusses evidence that sheds light on how they chose to remain at their posts while extending moral support to the freedom struggle. The article also explores how Indian and Pakistani railway workers coped with the challenge of partition. During what was certainly the greatest challenge faced by any railway workforce on the planet, these workers transported three million refugees over the newly created boundaries. The article discusses the challenges of class conflict that are endemic to modern industrial relations, specifically, how railway workers used acts of everyday resistance as well as organised strikes to protect their interests. Finally, the article discusses how Indian and Pakistani railway workers rose to the challenge posed by the initial years of independence, when both countries were vulnerable. The article argues that the workers adopted a multitude of survival strategies to overcome the challenges of the 1939–1949 decade. The article further argues that survival strategies culminated in a constructive relationship with nationalist politics, consolidated through the crucial decision of railway workers to work through independence and the partition crisis.

在1939年至1949年之间，有100万男女老少在印度和巴基斯坦的铁路上工作。本文利用回忆录，报纸和政府文件，试图研究这些工人在这个动荡的十年中采取的生存策略。首先要研究他们为应对第二次世界大战的挑战所做的努力。文章重点介绍了它们如何应对这些挑战，并在印度的战争努力中发挥了关键作用。它还检查了这些工人如何应对印度戒烟运动的要求。本文讨论了证据，阐明了他们如何选择留在自己的岗位上，同时又为自由斗争提供了道德支持。本文还探讨了印度和巴基斯坦的铁路工人如何应对分区的挑战。在这无疑是地球上任何铁路工人面临的最大挑战期间，这些工人在新建立的边界上运送了300万难民。本文讨论了现代劳资关系中普遍存在的阶级冲突的挑战，特别是铁路工人如何利用日常抵抗行为以及有组织的罢工来保护自己的利益。最后，本文讨论了印度和巴基斯坦的铁路工人如何应对独立初期的挑战，当时两国都很脆弱。文章认为，工人采取了多种生存策略来克服1939年至1949年十年的挑战。文章进一步指出，生存策略最终与民族主义政治建立了建设性关系，