Mumbai local trains carry over 5,000 commuters above official capacity, thousands of lives lost in a decade
Mumbai's suburban railway network is reeling under crumbling infrastructure and overcrowding of trains. Thousands of lives have been lost in the past decade, however, little has been done to address the issue.
Mumbai's suburban railway network is over a hundred years old (Representative Image) | Photo Credit: BCCL
Mumbai: Almost a hundred years since the first electrical multiple units (EMU) service was started from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST), then Victoria Terminus, not much has changed for Mumbai's suburban railway network. Known as the maximum city's 'lifeline', the network is crumbling with respect to infrastructure and passenger safety.
A report released last year asserted that six people died after falling in the gap between a platform and a train across Mumbai in 2008, however, that number has skyrocketed over the past decade. In 2018, 711 citizens died after falling off running, overcrowded trains on Mumbai's suburban railway network. In 2017, the number of locals who died on the railway tracks crossed the 3,000 mark.
Shockingly, a single 12-car train on Mumbai's suburban railway network has the capacity to carry 1,174 passengers. However, a single train with that many cars currently carries close to 6,000 passengers in one go. On an average, overcrowding caused seven-eight deaths every single day on the suburban railway network, revealed a report released last year.
The fact that frequent rail fractures cause a minimum delay of 30 minutes for running trains is proof enough of how desperately Mumbai's suburban railway network needs an overhaul. Just last year, 23 innocent civillians died during a stampede which occured on a footbridge at the Elphinstone Road station which has now been renamed as Prabhadevi. Despite repeated claims by top officials including ministers in the railway ministry, little has been done on the ground to ensure the safety of passengers and curb overcrowding along Mumbai's suburban railway network.
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