The Mumbai Local - Lifeline of Mumbai City

When it comes to public transport, nothing beats the local trains of Mumbai city. It is called the lifeline of the city. Even if there is a halt of half an hour in the service the whole city gets chaotic. Statistics show that a daily 7.5 million commuters travel through this network which connects the whole of Mumbai and the Navi Mumbai cities spreading across the Western, Central and Harbour lines of the city.
The local trains are nothing fancy like the ones you would see in many parts of the world. They are non-airconditioned and there are no doors.

During peak hours, there is so much rush that the whole compartment is flooded with people and they stand at the edge of the door. Some mishaps also happen due to this. They are very rare, but it is still a danger. Last week, I had some work and I had to travel to another end of the city. These days all the city roads are dug up and going by cab would take like forever stuck in traffic jams, so I decided to take the train. After almost 2 years, I utilized this service.

When I was working in Mumbai, daily I would commute by local trains as this is the fastest and economical way to commute on a daily basis. Stepping into it did make me remind of those days, when I had to push through the crowd and get myself a seat. Morning and Evening office hours are peak and that's the time when it gets over packed. Other time of the day, it is better.

I had to take the train from Churchgate station. The station has a subway where there are vendors who sell variety of things like clothing, footwear, accessories, home utilities and what not.

These food stalls are new, before they were just 2 of them, but now it has grown much bigger and I can see multiple outlets.

The ticket counter. There is a pass system, but for one time travel a single ticket is needed, which one can get at the counter.

I have to take the Borivali slow train so the PF-2 one will take me to my destination.

That's the Mumbai local

There are separate ladies coach, I prefer to travel in that. In the male coach the females can also travel, but these are strictly for females only.

Very empty at this hour, but as it goes ahead, it gets full, but not very crowded.

The ticket is very reasonable. 5 Rupees. The max it will go to 15 rs. which is the final destination. For which if I take a cab, I will have to pay around 800 Rs. any day very economical and fast.

During rains or any other unforeseen circumstances when there is a delay, it gets chaotic. Almost every 3 to 4 minutes there is a train and all of them get filled up, so imagine missing even 2 to 3 trains, how much of crowd will gather at the platforms. It's considered to be one of the best local transport networks in the world, may be not in show but in terms of connectivity and efficiency for sure.