Late hona is sometimes better

Following the fire in Kurla's signal panel on Wednesday, trains have been running late and there is a lot of confusion as indicators have not been working. Also, 3 people were killed and many injured due to overcrowding.

Requesting people to skip boarding overcrowded trains. You might miss going to work and hear taunts from bosses like, "Others could reach work, why couldn't you get in a train!"

But trust me, the taunts and absenteeism is better than risking your life. PLEASE DO NOT BOARD CROWDED TRAINS. IT'S NOT WORTH ANYTHING.

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Safar ya suffer?

Guest post by Eknath Makne:

My ex-colleague-friend Anuradha Khanna-Pentapalli invited bloggers to share theri memorable incidents on train. Until three years ago, two incidents in which I had close shave with death, remained unforgettable ones. With steep rise in number of commuters on local trains in recent history, daily journeys to workplace have been offering slow deaths in installments. Hence, the two instances are no more memorable ones...

Shashi Tharoor's tweet of Air India services being cattle class may have found many takers. But if you ask a daily local train commuter, whose on board agonies just refuse to die, the former Union Minister's platitude appears to be sheer buffoonery of the air carrier. Thanks to 'surplus congestion' inside a local train due to soaring populace, adjectives like arduous, tiresome, painstaking, etc. have started falling short while describing journeys on board these days. Every passing moment adds to bad memories of life, while time spent on old (or is it ancient?) narrow bridges connecting one platform to another makes us think if there would be any 'stampede' during peak hours.

Measures taken by railways like introducing 15-car trains or increasing the number of 12-car ones, have proven to be futile exercises. As the revenue increases, benefits of the same are not seen being passed on to commuters in the form of developed infrastructure.

For instance, if old narrow bridges have turned into death traps during rush hours, are we not going to usher in wider ones or is it we want somebody to die in stampedes just to underline the seriousness of the issue?

Many of us may have seen flicks in which wife of a police official says, “subah jab maang mein sindur bharti hoon toh pata nahin hota ki vapas laut aayenge ya nahin”. Why should our lives resemble that of a jaanbaaz sipahi while everyone here wants to sing “yunhi kat jayega safar saath...?”

Roots of all these worries lie in rising population, something the railways can not curb. But within their limits, the authorities should look for long-run solutions in lieu of patting their own back for taking half measures. With rail budget around the corner, lets hope Mamata di 'chugs' out 'on-track' measures responding to our not-so-mishti litany...

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When the train did not stop for Roma

She lost her balance on the train when her head hit hard on the tracks. Commuters did pull the chain, but the train never stopped. Poor Roma Talreja, all of 21, lied in an unconscious state on the tracks between Ghansoli and Rabale stations on Friday, 10th December 2010.

But she is not all that unlucky. Fortunately, Baleshwar Mishra saw her fall from an train passing on a Vashi-bound train. The brave-heart jumped off from his train hoping he might be able to save someone's life. He did save her!

But what if it was not for him? Why was the train not stopped after the chain being pulled? All right, the train slowed down and the guard did look around. But what was his calculation? Shouldn't someone have approached the compartment to figure out why was the chain pulled in the first case?

Now while the authorities are continuously warning us to use the FOBs instead of crossing tracks and losing our life, what about the warning (chain-pulling) we give to them when a life is in danger? God bless Baleshwar and make life easier for Mumbai's local train commuters.

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CST-Panvel trains running late today

CST to Panvel local trains are running late by around 40 minutes today (updated at 9:30 pm on 9th April 2010).

Please do not board the train if it's too crowded and if you need to balance yourself at the footboard. Wait for the next train / skip a couple of trains / travel by road. Whenever trains are late, after some time the situation eases out and everyone can travel comfortably.

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Teenager Sagar Dogle lost life over a Mumbai local train seat issue

My condolences to the family of 18-year old Sagar Dogle who lost his life after being thrown off from a moving local train on 20th February. And why? Because someone wanted to occupy his seat in the train!

Just yesterday I had written about the condition of commuters in Mumbai local trains:

"During peak hours we travel in Mumbai local trains as if we were in hell. Standing and balancing ourselves in overcrowded trains sometimes on one foot is not a joke. All we focus on is ensuring that we don't fall off the train."

Little did I know that today I'll read a report of a young guy losing his life just because someone wanted to travel comfortably!

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WR prepares for future flash strikes by motormen

Flash strikes seem to have become the 'in' thing with the motormen. I don't say that their demands are unreasonable. The motormen work with great responsibility on their shoulders and they deserve the best. However, protesting at the cost of commuters' convenience is something very uncalled for. C'mon, during peak hours we travel in Mumbai local trains as if we were in hell. Standing and balancing ourselves in overcrowded trains sometimes on one foot is not a joke.

All we focus on is ensuring that we don't fall off the train.

Flash strikes leave us in a place worse than hell. I'm glad that WR is taking steps to prevent us from being struck by strikes.

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Thane train accident update -Travel to Thane via Kurla-Vashi-Thane route

Following the Thane train accident (23rd October 2009)and disruption of services, the railway authorities have taken a fast and smart step to ensure that commuters reach their destinations without much difficulty. Announcements are being made and notice boards been placed at stations that if commuters want to travel to Thane they can go to Kurla, take a train to Vashi and then take the Vashi - Thane train.

Though it is a good move, there is quite some panic among the passengers. Getting in and out of the train is extremely tough. Worst is the platform number 7 of Kurla from where people can board the train to Vashi. At 6:30 pm, when I took the last bridge (Vashi end footover bridge) the platform was so packed that the crowd was standing even at the base of the bridge. Of course, I managed to somehow get in the train since ladies first class was not crowded. But I am sure it had been very tough for the men and the female commuters taking the second class. At every station,we could hear men shouting and stuffing themselves inside the compartments. One bad day in Mumbai local trains :(

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Thane Vashi trains getting crowded by the day

When I started travelling from Koparkhairane to Vashi in the morning peak hours, it used to be great. More often than not, I'd get a place to sit and travel super-comfortably. But gradually, commuters in Thane-Vashi line are increasing and it's close to packed in some trains during the morning peak hours. I am talking about the tiny ladies first class compartment, don't know much about the rest. In any case, I really think they should increase the frequency of trains in this line. Also, we need trains after 11:10 pm too. Can't believe the last train from Vashi to Thane leaves at 11:10!

Latest update:
New timetable has been introduced from February 2012: Thane Vashi Local Train Time Table 2012

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