Overcrowding, accidents, technical snags: What’s the solution to Mumbai commuters’ woes?

The Mumbai local, aka the lifeline of the city, has often been considered the backbone of the rushing, never-halting life that characterises the city. It has found a special mention in stories of Mumbaikars - stories of struggle, dreams, happiness, love, loneliness and more. However, when what formed an integral part of Mumbai's identity only finds mention in stories of inconvenience, frustration and sometimes even tragedy, it becomes important to evaluate what went wrong and the steps being taken to make it right.

Yes, times have evolved, situations have changed and new challenges have emerged, but the resilience of Mumbai's suburban railway has always been put to test, especially recently. "We feel ashamed at the manner in which commuters are made to commute," is what the division bench of Bombay High Court said in June, addressing a PIL presenting concerning number of railway deaths in the city.

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According to the petition filed by Yatin Jadhav, a Virar resident, 2,590 commuters lost their lives on the tracks in 2023. As many as 2,441 persons were injured during the same period. While 1,650 people were killed in accidents on the Central Railway route, 940 died on the Western Railway.

Overcrowding, accidents due to track crossing and travelling on footboards, and delays due to technical snags are interconnected issues haunting the Mumbai local trains currently, exacerbated by the ongoing monsoon season.

Hear from the commuters
Jyotsna, who commutes regularly from Vikhroli to Parel, reveals, "One day, when it was raining heavily, I couldn't find a train on the central line. I had to take a train from Prabhadevi on the western line, get down at Matunga Road station and walk to Sion."

The day she refers to is 8th July, when train services were disrupted due to heavy waterlogging at Bhandup station and commuters reported that no train was running beyond Thane towards CSMT.

"On the central line, trains are never on time. If trains come, they are not for the location mentioned in the indicator. Yesterday, I left the office (in Bhandup) at 11:15 PM. There was a train at 11:18 but it reached the station at 11:39, that too it was till Kurla, then another one till Parel, then again till Kurla. When the CSMT train finally arrived, they announced that the train won't go ahead Parel. Such incidents have been happening since a long time," says Rahul Salve, who has also previously filed complaints about the same to railway officials.

On railway accidents, he says, "When trains get delayed, the public just thinks of catching the train that arrives. They try to board the train at any cost. Due to this, accidents are happening. People are also crossing tracks to catch their trains."

While the central line is often in news for delays and accidents, the western line has its fair share of problems.

"I have been travelling on the western line for the last 7 years and have never understood this. I have seen trains running from Churchgate to Bandra and back. These trains run absolutely empty during rush hours. Even the number of trains running between Churchgate to Borivali are more than necessary. And trains between Churchgate to Virar where the most crowd comes from and goes back is way lesser than required," states Aditya Puthanpura, a Nalasopara resident.

"Ticketless travellers and people with 2nd Class tickets board 1st class and AC coaches. To avoid all the extremely crowded trains, commuters who can spend a little more opt for 1st class and AC coaches but unfortunately these coaches are now equally crowded giving no value for money spent by commuters for a better journey," he adds.

Vanisht Iyer, another commuter, seconds the issue of ticketless travellers. "There's a lot of crowd in the trains, especially ticketless travellers in first class," he says. While many problems persist, commuters also accept that there has been improvement and that people need to play an equally important role in preventing accidents.

"Three years ago, at Jogeswhari station, one person was crossing the tracks and was hit by a train. There were no barricades then. So, people would just cross tracks to go from East to West or vice versa. Now, there are barricades," reveals western line commuter Avdhut Mestry. "People are also at fault somewhere. Yes, if there would have been barricades then, a life would have been saved. But people should also be careful," he adds.

What's the solution?
"While the situation has improved over the years, there is still way more scope of improvement. The digital ticketing systems, AC EMUs, cleaner train coaches, less rain affected cancellations on western line have helped the daily commuter a lot. But still, the Western Railway needs trains with automatically closing doors to avoid accidents, regular checking of ticketless passengers and better scheduling of trains on extremely busy routes," says Puthanpura.

"Increase frequency of Virar train between 6-7pm rather than making existing trains into AC in the name of adding new AC trains in the timetable," suggests Iyer. Central line passengers have demanded for better communication about delays and other technical snags.

What is being done?

Western Railway
According to data shared with mid-day.com, a number of steps have been taken by Western Railways over the years for improving the capacity of the train system.

Overcrowding
"Over the years, we have converted all 9-car services into 12-car services. This led to an increase of 33 percent in capacity. We also converted 199 services from 12 to 15 cars. Over the last 20 years, we have also increased the number of services. In 2004, the number of services was 1007 and now in 2024, the number of services is 1394. The total capacity increase has been much more. It is almost 68% increase as compared to 2004," reveals Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway.

Currently, there are 96 AC services on the western line, which are said to enhance convenience and safety due to automatic doors. Western Railway is also focusing on increasing line capacity. "Multiple infrastructural projects are under progress, main ones being the fifth and sixth line construction, quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu road and extension of the harbour line from Goregaon to Borivali," he further states.

Accidents
Multiple awareness sessions are being conducted by RPF to persuade people not to cross tracks and risk their lives. These have increased from 118 session in 2018 to 4316 sessions in 2023.

According to the information shared, 11,789 trespassers were booked in 2023 under Section 147 of the Railway Act, which deals with trespass and refusal to desist from trespass. As of May 2024, 2596 offenders were prosecuted by RPF. Additionally, 883 offenders were prosecuted in 2023 under Section 156 of Railway Act, which deals with travelling on the roof, step or footboard of a train.

A major reason for people crossing tracks is inconvenience in going from one platform to another. The construction of lifts and elevators is helping combat the same. "Currently, 70 lifts and 122 escalators are fully functional on the Western line stations. In the coming months, 24 more lifts and 15 escalators will become functional," reveals Abhishek. Construction of boundary walls and fencing work has also stopped people from crossing tracks.

Central Railway
Central Railway officials remained unavailable for comment. However, according to a previous report by Mid-Day, Central Railway General Manager Ram Karan Yadav said that works were in various stages on the Kurla-Parel fifth and sixth line corridor. Once ready, it will ease the pressure. Works are also on at Panvel and Kurla LTT, which is being converted into a mega terminus.

With the Bombay High Court order for railway officials to take more accountability of the situation and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's plan to introduce 250 more services, the local train network in Mumbai is expected to improve. However, currently, the ground reality isn't reflecting the proposed plans and efforts being taken.

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