Local Trains (Pooja Nandar)

The Local trains of Mumbai are like the arteries of the heart in a human body. There is a blockade somewhere, and life comes to a stand still. A majority of the population use the local trains everyday to commute to their desired destinations. A change of travel by any other mode is unthinkable to a hardcore traveller. Distances in the train and the time they take to travel hardly bothers a regular goer as they have their own ways and means of what they call ‘time-pass’. Most work in the city is related to the local trains, since, right from children to homemakers to businesspersons to the elderly, every single person from various spheres of life heavily depend on the local trains. The local trains in Mumbai connect to every part of the city and this is what makes trains the best and fastest mode of transportation from one part of the city to another. The second reason that makes the Local trains a huge success in Mumbai is the cheap rates. The cheap rates of the local trains, makes it accessible to people from every section of the society. With the traffic in Mumbai becoming more chaotic by the day the local trains are more in demand. 

    The Mumbai Local trains have special coaches for men and women. There are peak hours when it gets very crowded. From 8:00am to 11:00am and 5:00pm to 10:00pm are the rush hours. One needs skill, technique, and persistence to get in and out of a local train during the peak hours. During the peak hours one may find it difficult to even breathe in the train. But, in spite of the inhuman travelling conditions faced by the people during the chaotic rush hours, the everyday commuters swear by the local train. They feel it saves time and money, both which are hard to find in Mumbai.

However, a lot of people choose to avoid travelling in the local trains during the peak hours. Ramesh Nair a resident of Malad, who has to commute everyday to Shivaji Park says, “The local trains are a very convenient means of transportation, but I find it very difficult to travel in the train in the evening. Many a times the train passes by and I do not get a chance to get inside because of the crowd. This further delays my reaching home on time, so I ensure I avoid the local trains in the rush hours.” Atishi Patnaik a resident of Powai says, “The best part of my day is my train journey. I have made many friends in the train. We all travel together everyday. We have a great time. We play games like antakshari, and after a hard day’s work, I feel rejuvenated to meet my friends in the train. Coincidently we travel around the same time.”

Even people living in other cities who come to visit Mumbai get addicted to the local trains, Anshita Nalwaya who lives in Udaipur comes often to Mumbai to meet her cousins says, “Three cheers to the Mumbai Local trains, I love taking the train, it saves my time and it is extremely cheap. I don’t waste money on conveyance and I use that money to shop instead.” (smiles). Even the tourists who visit Mumbai ensure they get a ride on the local trains because they feel their visit to Mumbai is incomplete without traveling in the local trains. They get a sense of achievement after travelling in the local trains.     

 One of the unique features of the Mumbai local trains is the absence of door. Everybody is welcome. The time spent in a Mumbai local is an experience, which is different on each day for a traveller. Different nature of relationships social, political and romance may evolve in the train. A lot of people manage to find their soul mates in the train. These stories help furnish bollywood with great scripts. Even Rahul Gandhi feels “inspired” when he visits Mumbai. Mumbai local train commuters were overjoyed, when Rahul Gandhi decided to travel by train during his visit to Mumbai in February.

Travelling in a Mumbai local is a real test of endurance. However, a visit to Mumbai is incomplete without travelling in the local trains. The Mumbai local enables us to see the organised chaos, beauty and fast life of the Mumbaikars. The architects of terror, who orchestrated the July 2006 bombings, targeted the trains for a specific reason. If you want to kill, shoot at the heart.