If you’ve taken a train in any big city, you might think you’re a pro on this mode of transportation. It’s quite simple, buy a ticket, wait for the train, get on the train, get off at your designated station. Simple as pie. But add the 6.9 million people who use the local trains for daily commute in Mumbai and the pie just blew up in your face.
The commercial capital of India has an area of 437 sq. km., is surrounded by the sea on 3 sides and is slim at the bottom and widens as you head northwards. At the southern most tip lies the main business district, which effectively means that the majority of the population is headed north to south in the morning and the other way in the evening. The main mode of transportation for the working class is the network of local trains. Running over a total of 427 kms, the train Network in Mumbai is divided into Western, Central and Harbour Lines out of which the Western line handles the most number of travelers. The trains don’t have airconditioning, which means the doors are open at all times, making it quite dangerous to stand at the door when the train is in movement.
So with that background, here are the simple rules of traveling on the local trains (or locals) in Mumbai.
1) Buy a First Class ticket: There are two classes of travel, First Class and Second Class. Second Class compartments are always crowded, so finding a place to sit is difficult at times, and impossible in peak hours. First class compartments are comparatively less crowded, but come at a price, approximately 10 times the price of the second class compartment. But that’s not much. The minimum fare is INR 4 (US$ 0.09) for second class and INR 41 for first class (US$ 0.91). Buy your ticket before you board the train. Many a times there are serpentine queues of people waiting to buy tickets, but you can head to the front of the line if you’re buying a first class ticket.
2) Avoid peak hours: Unless you want your toes tread on, or get someone’s armpit shoved in your face (yes, it does happen), avoid peak hour travel on the train network. During peak hours each compartment holds at least 500 people, compared to the rated holding capacity of 200 people.
3) Know your destination station: Check whether the train is stopping at the station you want to get off at. There are 2 types of trains running, ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’. These names are not related to the actual speed of the train, but depend on the number of stations that the trains stop on. The ‘Slow’ trains stop at all stations on the route, the ‘Fast’ trains stop at only the major ones.
4) Get on the train: During peak hours, getting on the train seems like one of the toughest things on Earth. People are packed tighter than peas in a pod. Getting in is next to impossible, and very often you will have to leave a train or two. Once you get to the door of the train, climb in and push with all your might to get into the train.
5) When in doubt, ask a fellow traveler: The indicators on the station platform mention the abbreviations of the last stop of the train, which can be very confusing for a new traveler. Also, once inside, there is no way of knowing at which side of the train the next station will come. Therefore, it’s always better to ask rather than scramble across the compartment at the last moment, earning yourself a lot of angry stares.
6) Don’t be in a hurry to get off: Trains with open doors mean that people get on and off the trains before they stop. So, never stand close to the door, thinking you’ll be the 1st one off, because then you’ll have to get off before the trains stops, which needless to say is very dangerous.
7) Look after your stuff: Take care of your belongings as pickpocketing does happen.
8) Enjoy the commute: Mumbaiites spend many hours in their daily commute by trains (Some commute 2 hours on the train, one – way). So the trains end up becoming a moving marketplace, with people selling a variety of fruits, newspapers, keychains, pens and other trinkets. You also have beggars singing, in the hope that you loosen your purse strings.
But like everything, practice makes perfect and after a couple of times you’ll be able to travel on Mumbai locals quite effortlessly.
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