Yet another train derails in Mumbai!

I can't believe there was yet another train derailment in Mumbai. Thankfully no one got injured, but let that not make the derailment a "casual" affair. The fact is that derailment happened and that lives were at risk. Now I wonder if the train derailments have only increased over the past few months or is it that we are learning about these incidents only now???

Today (22nd October 2010), a Bhayander to Dadar fast local train derailed between Borivali and Kandivali in the western line. The incident happened at a non-peak hour, at around 4.15 pm as per TOI.  

Click here to check out the derailments that happened in the recent past and you would know how this problem must be attended to immediately.

GET THE PICTURE:
13th April 2010: Garib Rath Express train derailed between Kalyan and Shahard stations 
13th April 2010: Kalyan-CST fast was short-terminated after people saw smoke. A goods train de-coupled between Wadala and Kurla stations. 
18th January 2010: Panvel train derails near Belapur station 
13th November 2009: 2 coaches of a train from Kasara derailed at CST

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A fast train that slowed down

Getting up on a Monday morning is such a drag. No amount of decibels is good enough to get me off the bed. And once I am awake, I know I am bloody late for work. Another stupid late mark!
 

I stay at Koparkhairane and my office is at Colaba. For those who think Koparkhairane is on one corner of the earth, it is partly true. It takes around 15 minutes by rickshaw (11 minutes by local train) to Vashi, 50 minutes to CST (from Vashi), 10 minutes to Colaba (by bus). Do the math to know the total time I need to travel all the way to work.

So this Monday morning I thought “Hey I’ll take a fast train from Kurla.”

I mentally calculated 15 minutes to reach CST (will reach office on time, boy am I smart!). Bearing the brunt of the force from Mankhurd and Govandi (I travel second class till Kurla), I got down at Kurla station. Walking swiftly, I reached platform number 6 (I suppose) to catch a fast CST bound local. It arrived in seconds... I boarded. Everything was on schedule till Byculla. While I was constantly looking at the watch and thinking to hell with another late mark, the train stopped. Snail-paced it went ahead. Bloody it took 10 minutes to reach CST, and to add salt to the wounds, the Harbour train that I had 'smartly' left passed by the station and reached before CST my train.

The conclusion: Wake up early or you'll get late for work, no matter how hard you try to reach on time.

-Contributed by Mrinal

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First morning local trains' timings

Someone visited this site today and asked me about some early morning trains. Thanks to the person, Thomas, I realised that we must have a list of the timings of the first local trains that leave from various stations early in the morning. Here you go:

The first local train from Andheri to Borivali leaves at 4.10 am
The first train from Andheri to Churchgate leaves at 4.04 am
The first train from Andheri to CST leaves at 5.17 am

The first train from Bandra to Borivali leaves at 4.03 am
The first train from Bandra to CST leaves at 4.10 am
The first train from Bandra to Virar leaves at 4.41 am
From Bandra to Bhayandar leaves at 6.58 am
The first train from Bhayandar to Virar leaves at 5.50 am

The first train from Churchgate to Andheri leaves at 5.49 am
The first train from Churchgate to Bandra leaves at 6.40 am
The first train from Churchgate to Borivali leaves at 4.25 am
The first train from Churchgate to Goregaon leaves at 7.31 am (fast train)
From Churchgate to Malad at 10.09 am (fast train)
From Churchgate to Mumbai Central at 10.42 am
From Churchgate to Vasai at 7.14 am (fast train)
From Churchgate to Virar at 4.15 am 


From Churchgate to Bhayandar at 5.03 am (fast train)

From Dadar to Virar at 5.04 am (fast train)

From Mahalaxmi to Andheri at 7.06 am
From Mahalaxmi to Borivali at 5.12 am

From Mumbai Central to Borivali at 5.25 am

PS: Will try and update this list as soon as possible

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Indian Railways New Ad

Such a sweet ad promoting Indian Railways:

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National ID numbers for Mumbai's local trains

Looks like Mumbai local trains will have a unique identity number as per this NDTV report - Now, unique national ID numbers for Mumbai's local trains

Here's an excerpt from the article on how the system will work:

For WR: The first digit is 9, second shall indicate the terminals and the other three numbers will reflect the starting/final destination. Thus, 0 has been assigned to all trains originating/terminating at Virar, 1 for Vasai Road and Bhayander, 2 for Borivli, 3 to terminals of Malad and Goregaon, and 4 for Andheri, Bandra and Mumbai Central.
Read more here.

I wonder if these 5-6 digit numbers will make our travel life easier or further complicate it. What do you think?

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Bag lost and found in train in 11 minutes!

A lost bag situation at the end of a very hectic and stressful day actually eliminated all my stress. Here are the 11 minutes of rapid action at Navi Mumbai stations that make me proud of my hubby, my brother, my sis-in-law and myself (whatever happened to my modesty ;)):

10:38 pm: Me and my husband alight at Vashi station from a Belapur bound train we had boarded from CST station.

10:39 pm: As we climb down the stairs, my husband realises we left behind our bag on the rack of the train's general compartment; the train already departed from the platform.


10:40 pm: RAPID ACTION: He plans to catch the next train while I decide to report the lost bag to the Vashi station master's office. I take note of the time for the calculations that would be required in the next few minutes.

10:41 pm: I rush towards Vashi's platform number 1 exit and inquire a guard about the station master's / manager's office. He tells me it's at platform number 4 (this you must always remember). I rush to the 4th platform when an idea strikes me.

10:42 pm: I realise that my brother and sis-in-law who stay near Seawoods station might be reaching home around the same time. I call them up when my sis-in-law quickly tells me that my bro is at home and he might be able to reach the station. I tell him about the situation and ask him to try and board the train that will reach Seawoods station around 10.49 pm.

Meanwhile, I struggle to find someone at the station master's office in vain. I reach the other entrance and find a man standing inside... he might have been the station manager / someone with similar authority. He struggles to read the timetable and asks me about the compartment, the train's departure time from CSt etc etc... while my husband and my bro are almost in a position to recover the bag from the train. I give the minutest details to the railway person and my bro. I tell them I don't want people to find an unattended bag in the train and panic especially on that day (Ayodhya verdict day).


10.49 pm: By the time the railway person understands the information and the time table, and picks up his phone to tell someone authority at Seawoods to board that compartment, my bro calls up. He recovers the bag!!! Poor fellow however is unable to alight at the same station as the train already left for Belapur. And he ends up getting a dent on his Blackberry in the process of searching through the previous train as well and hurriedly alighting from the same, thankfully unhurt.


Ahh!!! It was one exciting event and we went home congratulating each other and treating ourselves with an ice cream while happily swaying the bag!

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