Everybody’s got a story about Mumbai’s
local trains. From those pushed back after daring to get out at Andheri in a
Virar fast, to those enduring the blare of the bhajan mandals. Hindi movies
have shown romance blooming in local trains – from a virile Amol Palekar
courting a shy Tina Munim in “Baton Baton Mein” to an insipid Vivek Oberoi proposing
to a spunky Rani Mukherji in “Saathiya”.

However, try romanticising a Mumbai local
train journey to a daily commuter, and you’re likely to receive one tight slap.
Reality is closer to a haunting scene from J. P. Dutta’s “Hathyar” which showed
Sanjay Dutt seeing his dead father lying in between railway tracks, amidst the
whizzing locals. (And before you ask, local train accidents in Mumbai are estimated
at anywhere between 3,500 to 4,000 every year, half of which are on the rail tracks).

Size
matters

Mumbai’s local rail system is among the largest
in the world. In terms of traffic, the Western and Central Rail system carry an
estimated 6m people everyday. To put things in perspective, the New York Metro
North Rail carries 6m people in a month.

Mumbai doesn’t sleep much and neither do
its trains. The first train of the day rolls out of Virar at 03:26,
about an hour after the last train for the day checks in there at 02:30.
At Kalyan, the first train is out at 03:27 and the last train in at 01:14.
Between themselves, both rail systems run close to 2,070 services to ensure a
frequency of one train every five minutes.

You don’t need statistics to tell you
that Mumbai’s rail system is also among the most crowded in the world. A
nine-coach rake with a carrying capacity of 1,700 people routinely carries 4,700
people during peak hours. This is what is defined as – and you will surely
agree with this rather nice term – “super dense crush load”, which translates to
about 1.4 to 1.6 people per square foot of floor space. And this does not
include the space that enterprising Mumbaikars find on-top of the compartment,
around the compartment (i.e. clinging on to windows), and even between
compartments. Over the last few years, while rail capacity has been expanded
2.3 times, rail traffic has gone up – guess? – a whopping six times.  

Telling a Mumbaikar that the Government
is doing something about this daily torture could in all likelihood invite
another tight slap. Be that as it may, the two projects that could ameliorate
the current situation are the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, Phase 1 (MUTP-I) and
the Mumbai Metro.

Laying
down the tracks

As per the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional
Development Authority’s website (www.mmrdamumbai.org), the MUTP has been
formulated to…er… “bring about improvement in traffic and transportation
situation”. The project cost of the MUTP is pegged at Rs4,526crores – or just
under US$1billion. Note that 70% of the project cost – or Rs3,510crores – is
dedicated solely to Mumbai’s Rail system.

A separate company – the Mumbai Rail
Vikas Corporation Ltd, which is a joint venture of the Indian Railways and the
Government of Maharashtra will execute the rail component of the project. When
completed, the MUTP will add 35% to local train capacity during peak hours and
reduce the “super dense crush load” to about 3,000 people. This will be
achieved by (a) adding a fifth line from Borivali to Mahim and (b) adding additional
pairs of tracks between Kurla and Thane and Borivali and Virar.

However, the MUTP suffered a major
setback in March this year when the World Bank suspended it’s funding for the project.
This followed issues relating to relief and rehabilitation of the project
affected people (sounds familiar doesn’t it ? but no Aamir Khan here),
resettlement of shopkeepers, demolition of houses for road-widening and functioning
of a grievance redressal system. This is a text-book example of the
multiplicity of problems and resultant controversies that surround a project of
this size. As always, there will be no easy answers. As always, the Government finds
itself in a problem of its own doing.

While the rail component of the MUTP has
not been affected by the World Bank pulling the plug, the road component (which
includes crucial east-west link routes like the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli link and
the Santaruz-Chembur link) has taken a hit.  

At last count, the fifth railway line has
been laid between Santacruz and Borivali, and 45% of work between Kurla and
Thane has been completed.

Of
pipe dreams and grand designs….

The Mumbai Metro Rail is another classic
30-year-old-in-the-making project. Its siblings include the Bandra Worli
Sealink and the Mumbai Transharbour Link. However, after years of prevarication
and lack of political resolve, one leg of the Metro – the
Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) leg was finally cleared by the Government last month.
But not without disputes – one relating to funding and the other to a choice
between standard and broad gauge rail.

However, even for the Metro, some experts
were of the view that a sky bus would have been cheaper. Environmentalists also
claimed that upgradation and overhaul of the existing rail networks would have addressed
the transport problems better than spending a whopping Rs20,000crores on the
Metro.

In its final form, the 146km long Mumbai
Metro would consist of three parts. Other than the VAG, the Metro would include
a Colaba-Charkop leg and a Bandra-Kanjur Marg leg. Of course, you would have to
wait till 2021 to see the entire network in its full glory. By which time,
Himesh Reshammiya would have won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Or the Oscar
for the Best Actor.

…and
four-letter words

Indeed, all these projects remain a
distant dream for Mumbaikars. Yet, there is a lot still being done on the
ground to get these projects moving. A lot that should have been done earlier,
but is finally being done now. And till all these projects see the light of
day, the average man on the street will continue to endure bland signs which
exhort him to bear inconvenience today for a better tomorrow. Till then, hope
remains a four-letter word.

{mosimage}

 ({mhauthor})

Also by

• Consultation Freeze - September 4th, 2006
• Need for Speed - August 28th, 2006
• Meals on wheels - August 14th, 2006
• Whither tomorrow - August 7th, 2006
• Bombay Dreams - August 7th, 2006

Share This