Aamchi Mumbai's Heartbeat – 'The Local Train'
'Mumbai' the Mayanagri is famous for lot of things. Be it amazing food, Bollywood, busy people, confusion of Bombay and Mumbai, Dabbawala’s, Sky scrappers, Marine drive, Lalbaugcha Raja, and many more.
In this halla gulla how can we forget the city's very own heart beat. Yes, the local train. It’s the ultimate travel solution for every person staying in Mumbai.
It isn't called lifeline just like that, the number of passengers the local train carries every day is larger than the population of some countries. Well, you might have heard no one can stop Mumbai, but my friend, when the railway stops the city also freezes for a while. You’ll rarely find a Mumbaikar who hasn’t traveled by the local train.
So what is it that makes it so crucial to the city’s existence?
1. History of the local trains:
The Mumbai Suburban Railway is an offshoot of the first railway system to be built by the British in India, and is also the oldest railway system in Asia. The first train ran between Bori Bunder
(now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Thane, covering a distance of 34 km, on 16th April 1853 at 15:35, since then it has never stopped serving the people of Mumbai.
Terrorist attacks:
It is not difficult to guess where can the most crowd be affected and the terrorists group chose our backbone - Mumbai local to destroy.
The Mumbai Railway has suffered 8 blasts and around 368 people are believed to have died as a result.
12th March 1993 – Bomb blast at Reay Road station
13th March 2003 – A bombing in a train in Mulund killed 20
11th July 2006 – A series of seven bombs in trains killed 209
26th November 2008 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was attacked during the 2008 Mumbai Attacks killing at least 60 people
Despite of such big attacks our local trains were always ready to serve us with a gesture of “talk to my hand” to the terrorists.
Strangers but friends:
Don't you meet people who travel at the exact time you travel? You make some train friends on the way with whom you share your life problems, a glance, a smile and a wave.
Everyone of us would have made some share-a-glance friends while traveling in the local train.
Bhajan mandali:
If you are a daily commuter, that too of a Virar local, you’ll meet a group of people who sing bhajans and that’s really amazing to hear.
Thambavali:
If you are travelling towards Borivali you’ll see a invisible station called "Thambevali" a place between Kandivali and Borivali where the train stops everytime and people hop down.
Time matters:
For daily commuters, time really matters. Train timings are most important for them. There is a hell lot of difference between a 9.01 train and a 9.05 train.
Daily soaps:
If you are a big fan of daily soaps you’ll be entertained by the melo-dramatic fights in the local trains (especially in ladies compartment). Face-palm!
Hop In:
The train is never full for local commuters, they manage to make space anyway. And the novice just keeps wondering "why I couldn’t see that space?"
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Video coach:
For some reason, the first ladies coach near the motorman’s coach is called the Video Coach (maybe because of the small window between the ladies and gents compartments).
Crazy facts:
The Mumbai suburban railway operates 2,342 train services.
It carries more than 7.5 million commuters daily.
The railway tracks are silent only for 90 mins a day
The Dabbawala's:
You can spot the dabbawala's here, who do on time delivery of hundreds and thousands of lunch boxes everyday.
Affordability:
Mumbai railway is the cheapest mode of transport in the city. Most expensive ticket costs 30 rupees.
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