Mumbai local trains: 7 facts that’ll blow your freaking mind!

Earlier today, a Churchgate-bound Mumbai local train was derailed between Vile Parle and Andheri stations bringing the Western line of the suburban railway line to a grinding halt. Mumbai local

Earlier today, a Churchgate-bound Mumbai local train was derailed between Vile Parle and Andheri stations bringing the Western line of the suburban railway line to a grinding halt.

Mumbai local trains are called the city’s lifeline for a reason. The number of passengers they carry every day is larger than the population of some countries.

You’ll rarely find a Mumbaikar who doesn’t use the local train.

So what is it that makes the Mumbai local trains so crucial to the city’s existence?

Here are seven facts that should give you some idea:

1. The Mumbai suburban railway system is spread over 465 km

Photograph: Lakshman Anand/Creative Commons

That is more than the distance between Mumbai to Pune and back.

Mumbai local train services don’t just connect the city to its suburbs they also connect several townships that stand on the fringes of the city.

2. The Mumbai suburban railway operates 2,342 train services

Photograph: Jon Ardern/Creative Commons

Mumbai local trains are the primary mode of transport for hundreds and thousands of people who travel for as many as five hours every day to and from work.

The city’s bus services — BEST or the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Company — has been reporting losses for several years now and their long-distance connectivity is relatively limited as compared to the suburban local trains.

With the city flooding every year with the lightest showers, the train services are often the last resort for most Mumbaikars.

3. It carries more than 7.5 million commuters daily

Photograph: Mathias Klang/Creative Commons

That is more than five times the population of Estonia, ten times the population of Bhutan and just a little less than the population of Switzerland.

4. The railway tracks are silent only for about 90 minutes a day

Photograph: Avi Solomon/Creative Commons

The Mumbai suburban railway system sleeps for a little more than an hour and a half every day.

The first train leaves Western railway’s Churchgate station at 4.15 am; the last train reaches Borivali at 2.05 am.

On the Central line, the first train leaves Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 4.12 am and the last train chugs into Karjat at 2.45 am.

Do the math!

5. Mumbai suburban railway system has four major corridors

Photograph: Chenthil Mohan/Creative Commons

The western line runs for a little over 120 km from Churchgate in the south to Dahanu Road in the north

The central line runs from CST to Kalyan (54 km), which bifurcates into two lines leading to Kasara (an additional 67 km from Kalyan) on the Nashik route and Khopoli (an additional 61 km from Kalyan) on the Pune route. That is a total of 182 km.
The Harbour line runs between CST to Andheri on the Western line and Panvel (49 km) in Navi Mumbai.

And the Trans-Harbour Line, which is the youngest of the four connects Thane along the Central line to Panvel in Navi Mumbai.

If that hasn’t boggled your mind, there’s also a line that connects Vasai Road on the Western line to Diva Junction on the Central line to Panvel on the Harbour line. Go figure!

6. Without the Mumbai local trains, we’d go hungry!

Photograph: Steve Evans/Creative Commons

The famed dabbawallahs of Mumbai take the train every day, delivering hundreds and thousands of lunch boxes without fail.

We could tell you about their flawless delivery system but we suspect you know that already.

7. Not even terrorists could shut it down for long

It took all of three hours for the trains to start running again after the infamous 2006 serial blasts along the suburban railway line.

At first the services were skeletal but they resumed completely under 16 hours.