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| School girls having a laugh |
Mumbai's local trains are part of the state-run Indian Railways. The system transports around 7 million commuters each day and consists of half of the Railways capacity itself. If you've experienced these trains, or simply visited the stations, you'll know that the system has one of the highest passenger densities in the world.
Mumbai's Suburban Railways were partly built by the British in India in 1853. They are apparently the oldest railways system in Asia (quite evidently). Due to Mumbai's size and spread of population, the local train is the mass mode of transportation in this mega city. As more and more people migrant to the city, the railways have become seriously overcrowded, unhygienic and quite dangerous for those who are not used to squeezing themselves in and out of the crowds.
It is quite unfortunate that despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and hosting some of the worlds wealthiest people, the Indian government fails to not only improve but maintain a system that millions of its people are forced to use everyday.
As much as I enjoy traveling, I must admit I've been quite a wimp when it comes to train travel in India. Whenever I've mentioned it, someone always pushes the idea away or tells me I'm crazy. This time I was in Mumbai, I decided to make a trip to VT station and see what the big fuss was about?!
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| Mumbai, VT Station - On the Move |
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| Mumbaittes on the go | |
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| Lost in the crowds |
Its enormous and hats off to the guys who run it. Its a feat to run them every 3.5 minutes during peak time.
ReplyDeleteHave travelled in it for 5 years when I used to commute from Byculla to Bombay VT.
And hats off to the guys who ride it!
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