The financial center of Mumbai, India, never rests. Often referred to as the “lifeline of Mumbai,” the local train system is in the core of this energetic city.
These trains are among the busiest suburban railway networks worldwide since millions of people depend on them daily to get home, business, or education. Still, this lifeline has a sinister and sad aspect.
Claiming thousands of deaths annually, Mumbai’s local trains rank among the worst in the world.
From extreme congestion to inadequate infrastructure and a dearth of safety precautions, the causes of this concerning figure are multifarious and firmly ingrained in the past of the city and urban problems.
What therefore makes the local trains of Mumbai so perilous?
The Local Train Network Mumbai’s Scale
Among the biggest and most strained transportation systems worldwide is the suburban railway system for Mumbai. Over 400 kilometers, it runs three main lines—the Western Line, Central Line, and Harbour Line—serving around 7.5 million daily passengers.
Packed into almost 3,000 daily train rides, this exceeds the total population of several small nations.
The trains run up to three times their planned capacity during busy times. Usually carrying 600 or more, a single coach meant for 200 people carries more People hang from the doors,
cling to the edges, or even perch on the rooftops—risking their lives every single day just to get to their destinations—in such great extreme crowding. This extreme traffic becomes a death trap rather than only unpleasant.
An astounding death toll
On the local trains of Mumbai, accidents are shockingly regular. The figures are startling: 2,590 people perished on Mumbai’s railway system just in 2023.
That works out to seven deaths every single day. According to the film, 250 additional people fell from moving trains and nearly 500 people perished crossing railway lines between January and May 2024.
The reasons behind these fatalities fit clear trends:
1. One finds people falling off packed trains. Lack of space inside causes many people to hang onto the doors, yet abrupt jerkes or unexpected movements toss them into the tracks.
2. Track-crossing death toll. Often misjudging the speed of approaching trains, many commuters choose short routes across railway lines rather than using footbridges.
3. Electrocution via overhead cables. Desperate to get away from packed trains, some passengers scale the train roof and expose themselves to 25,000-volt electric lines.
4. Running afoul of poles and buildings. Passengers leaning out or standing at the door are particularly vulnerable to signal poles and station construction amid severe crowding.
These figures show a bleak picture of a system pushed well past its capacity, with everyday life-threatening dangers thrust upon users.
Population explosion and overcrowding define the roots of the crisis.
Mumbai’s train deaths are mostly caused by congestion. Over the years, Mumbai’s population has exploded from 3 million in 1950 to around 21 million now.
The city’s particular topography aggravates the problem since it is a small peninsula with limited area for development.
While millions of people live in far-off suburbs including Thane, Kalyan, and Virar, most jobs and companies are centered in South Mumbai.
Often the only practical means of getting great distances within the city, the Mumbai local train system is also the fastest and least expensive. Still, the railway system has not kept up with the fast growing population.
Although passenger count has tripled since the 1980s, train and track count has not changed in line.
This imbalance has driven the system beyond its capacity, requiring the railroads to run more trains at shorter intervals, therefore leaving little space for error.
Older Trains and Bad Safety Measures
Though vital for Mumbai, the local trains there are old and dangerous. Many of the coaches in use today are thirty years old and lack contemporary safety measures such automated doors.
1. Doors Remain Open in Motion: Passenger demand for ventilation in Mumbai’s high heat and humidity drove doors in more recent trains added after 2007 not to close during travel. Open doors seriously endanger safety even while they aid in air circulation.
2. Unlike contemporary metro systems, Mumbai’s local trains lack emergency stop devices, hence once an accident starts, it is impossible to halt it.
3. Many railway stations lack barriers to stop passengers from slipping into the tracks, so they are overcrowded and their infrastructure is inadequate.
Many platforms are either too narrow or too short to allow the long trains, which causes further turmoil during rush hours.
The film emphasizes how Mumbai’s train system lacks any kind of mechanism for looking at mishaps or implementing safety measures despite thousands of deaths annually.
Unlike air disasters, which prompt thorough investigations, train deaths in Mumbai are sometimes just numbers.
The background of the crisis in overcrowding
The first rail service between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane was brought by the British in 1853, hence establishing Mumbai’s local train network.
Originally meant to serve a modest metropolitan population, the network soon got taxed as Mumbai developed into a major economic center.
Migration into Mumbai surged after India’s independence in 1947, causing persistent overpopulation by the 1970s.
Though successive governments made little improvements by electrifying routes and introducing new coaches, the basic issue—too many people, too few trains—was never totally solved.
The Human Cost: Actual Tragedies Hidden Benevolently Behind Counts
Though the figures can be daunting, behind every figure is a human sorrow.
1. Never making it home, a father heading for work falls from a packed train.
2. Late for class, a young student dashes across the tracks and is struck by a fast train.
3. Not able to pay for a bus, a laborer runs the danger of dying from electrocution by riding on the train roof.
For many Mumbaikars, these sad events have become agonizing daily business. Families grieve their departed loved ones, but since there is no substitute, the death cycle never stops.
Private transportation is too costly; buses are too slow; the metro system isn’t yet large enough to meet Mumbai’s needs.
Efforts toward increased safety: too little, too late?
Though progress has been slow, the government has tried several steps to increase safety.
1. Although the Central Line’s 12 extra services launched by the railways in 2023 hardly help to alleviate the overcrowding issue.
2. While new metro lines seek to alleviate congestion on local trains, the building is gradual and it will take decades before the network is large enough to have a notable influence.
3. Authorities have created foot overbridges and barricades to stop track crossing, yet many commuters still overlook them out of time restrictions.
Evaluating Mumbai’s Local Trains Against Worldwide Systems
While their safety records are far better, other world cities also include high-density train systems.
1. Tokyo: Though they carry millions of passengers, Japanese trains feature innovative crowd management systems, automatic doors, and platform barriers.
2. London: Strict safety rules and complete enclosure of the London Underground help to reduce falls or track crossing fatalities.
Mumbai’s train system, on the other hand, runs on antiquated technology, lacks enforcement, and depends more on a survival than safety mentality.
A Lifeline Becoming a Death Trap
Why then are the local trains in Mumbai the most fatal in the world? The response combines lack of safety investment with old infrastructure and overpopulation.
Each travel becomes a gamble with fate given too many passengers and too few trains.
The pulse of Mumbai is its local train system, which both keeps the city alive and claims lives.
This terrible cycle of everyday deaths will persist until major measures are undertaken. Mumbai’s lifeline must to change before it claims thousands more deaths.
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