Wilbur Soot had at this point been in his personal limbo for so long that now he's not only lost perception of time, but now he has lost perception of what is real and what's fake. He feels like he's been on the train for years, when in reality it has been much less time. This limbo felt like a personal hell to him. This was because every time someone he knew was on the train with him, (or so he thought) just before he could think of the words to say to them, it was time for the friend to get off at their stop. This meant that Wilbur was constantly left behind and alone. This had started to hurt him.
