Mumbai’s lifeline — Local trains
A flawless system carrying 7.4 million people a day and 2.7 billion per year. It’s the heart beat of the city.
Most Indians and many abroad have heard about Mumbai’s locals commuting system, popularly known as the “Mumbai suburban railway system”, one of the best ingeniously and autonomously running institution, its “Lifeline”. The city swears by it, breathes on it and is its biggest identity.
Spread over 427 km, Mumbai’s local trains run over three arterial routes that connect the city’s southern hubs to the suburbs located in the north going up to Dahanu in the west, beyond Kalyan in the northeast, and all the way through Navi Mumbai. The first railway in Mumbai — built in 1853 to connect Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus with Thane over 34 km away — has now spawned this behemoth that runs over 2,600 services every day, one of the largest suburban rail networks in the world.
Though the system is almost always pushed to its limits, the railways have state-of-the-art systems to manage their fleet and keep the trains running like clockwork day after day. In a city where people need to keep tight schedules, one can surely depend on these trains to be on time “to the minute”, with a frequency of one train every two minutes during the peak hours. Through incessant rains or the aftermath of a terror attack, the Mumbai local trains keep running and get you where you need to be.
There are few different sub-routes in it which seems intimidating for an outsider (people not from Mumbai) and you will always see them asking locals which train goes where, is it fast or slow train, will it stop on “that” station, which side the platform will come, etc. All these questions never amazed me until I started living in America. It’s here where I realized that I was missing “my Mumbai local trains” big time. Feels almost like when you don’t have something you miss it more but this feeling of “belonging” to Mumbai is taken away in a way.
For those residing next to these railway tracks, listening to the clatter daily has become their way of life. It feels like Mumbai’s heartbeat. No trip to this city is complete without traveling in Mumbai local. To those millions who travel daily for work using these local train, it’s a huge challenge mentally as well as physically. Ask any Mumabikar and they will tell you that its a learned skill to travel in one of these trains.
It isn’t uncommon to find the managers and janitors of a company traveling side by side in these trains. With a 10 rupee ticket to traverse 30 km in an hour, avoid the pollution of the jammed expressways, and get you to your destination on time every time, the local trains of Mumbai exemplify the best of what this city stands for — grit, reliability, and the determination to get the job done and keep surging ahead.
Today’s topic is an inspiration from my most recent Mumbai trip. To give you all little background I was born and raised in Mumbai (hardcore Mumbaikar) and have spent little over two decades in a busy city, growing up in a city that never sleeps. I have used this Railway system on a day to day basis for commuting anywhere around, not paying much attention to any of the details whether be the interiors or people hanging on to the doors or the punctuality of it which I now admire even more.
Even though I am not a daily commuter anymore (since living in a different country), still the ease with which I was able to navigate was something amazing. This time I enjoyed every ride I took when I was there. The upgraded train’s interiors, new installations of escalators on the improvised platforms all were just impeccable and made me proud. I enjoyed sharing the ride with the daily commuters and the five minute conversations with a few local commuters riding with me. To me it seems an organized chaos which only people like me can understand. I felt nostalgic almost instantaneously. There were times when I used to travel from Andheri to Charni road(one corner to another corner of town) catching a 0830 am train and could recognize every face in that compartment since I boarded the same one every day. It became a small family where we used to celebrate every little occasion. Initially, the crowd may feel intimidating but once you are a regular, each one knows the other. For two years I had a “train family”. I know it sounds weird but that’s what we used to address it.
Andheri Station at peak hours is swelled, sometimes not an inch to spare if those trains are late or if it’s a rainy day. All you must do is stand on that platform and you will automatically get pushed into one of those compartments where all are packed like sardines in a tin box.
I knew exactly where that woman sitting by the window would get off, so I would quietly board trying to find my way in, to park next to her to grab the seat. And if you are absent for a few days, they would politely inquire about your well being too once they see you back after the gap.
There are many who travel almost 4 hours daily on those trains.
You should not be surprised if you see a woman cutting vegetables, some students finishing their assignments whereas many are singing devotional songs or catching up on their prayers. That’s the way life is built in around them. I got a huge high and an adrenaline rush just by standing on the gate of those trains by the footboard feeling all the wind in my hair.
I don’t miss a chance of commuting via one of them if I am in Mumbai, just to relive those days. It’s as exhilarating as ever to sit in them today too and I automatically have one of those broad smiles on my face as old memories flow in. All those seasons, all those rush hours, running behind one which almost left, squeezing in that tiny space where you are hardly able to breath.
