The daily ‘local’ menace
Travelling by train is my passion and since the past six years, I’ve been using the Western Railway. The local trains are truly Mumbai’s lifeline with lakhs of people commuting daily. People who travel long distances pass their time by playing cards, singing bhajans, reading tabloids, etc.
One of the biggest problems commuters face is catching a train during rush hour. At that time commuters are often sandwiched inside the compartment worse than a pack of sardines as each one tries to get a foothold inside the train. Commuting is an uphill task for Mumbaikars. While many have accepted it as a part of their daily routine and painstakingly take the effort of renewing their monthly railway passes, 10 to 15 per cent of the commuters travel without tickets daily, which is an offence and a big loss to the Railways too.
Many of these include hawkers and people who try to cheat their way through in the trains, thus depriving others commuters who have bonafide ticket their entitled space. Due to the over-crowded compartments commuters have travel on the rooftops or hanging on the footboards to create space for themselves, risking their lives. The Government has put up notices inside trains which state: “If any passenger or any other person, persists in traveling on the roof, step or footboard of any carriage or on an engine, or in any other part of a train not intended for the use of passengers, he shall be punishable under section 156 of the Railway Act, 1989 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.”
A while ago I had heard that if a commuter is found sitting on the rooftop, the train won’t proceed further. This is a impediment for other commuters as their journey will be delayed due to no fault of theirs. Often commuters don’t even manage to get down at their destinations due to the mad rush. Despite a train being available every five minutes and frequent buses, there is so much rush every day. All this can not only be attributed to our population but also the number of immigrants from rural areas entering Mumbai daily with the hope of making it big in this city. Perhaps, if the rural areas were as developed then they wouldn’t feel the need to flock to Mumbai.
One of the biggest problems commuters face is catching a train during rush hour. At that time commuters are often sandwiched inside the compartment worse than a pack of sardines as each one tries to get a foothold inside the train. Commuting is an uphill task for Mumbaikars. While many have accepted it as a part of their daily routine and painstakingly take the effort of renewing their monthly railway passes, 10 to 15 per cent of the commuters travel without tickets daily, which is an offence and a big loss to the Railways too.
Many of these include hawkers and people who try to cheat their way through in the trains, thus depriving others commuters who have bonafide ticket their entitled space. Due to the over-crowded compartments commuters have travel on the rooftops or hanging on the footboards to create space for themselves, risking their lives. The Government has put up notices inside trains which state: “If any passenger or any other person, persists in traveling on the roof, step or footboard of any carriage or on an engine, or in any other part of a train not intended for the use of passengers, he shall be punishable under section 156 of the Railway Act, 1989 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.”
A while ago I had heard that if a commuter is found sitting on the rooftop, the train won’t proceed further. This is a impediment for other commuters as their journey will be delayed due to no fault of theirs. Often commuters don’t even manage to get down at their destinations due to the mad rush. Despite a train being available every five minutes and frequent buses, there is so much rush every day. All this can not only be attributed to our population but also the number of immigrants from rural areas entering Mumbai daily with the hope of making it big in this city. Perhaps, if the rural areas were as developed then they wouldn’t feel the need to flock to Mumbai.
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