This
is a post long in the making.
I
have been travelling in Mumbai suburban trains (affectionately called ‘locals’)
for nearly 20 odd years now. Starting from my engineering days (Matunga Road to
Andheri), then when I was in Patni (again Matunga Road to Andheri for a few
months) and then as part of my current job (Goregaon to Santacruz). Over this
nearly two-decade period, the Mumbai local has become almost a part of me, so
much so that I have not been able to (as yet) get myself to use my car (mostly
lying unused now-a-days) for the daily commute to work. And over the past few
years, there have been, at various points, a lot of thoughts that have crossed
my mind as regards improvement of the suburban train system in general. Hence,
when the newspaper DNA this week started a campaign inviting reader’s views on
ways to improve the travelling ‘experience’ on the Mumbai suburban train
system, I thought of this as the ideal time to gather all my thoughts,
crystallize them and then put them across. So what follows are some suggestions
to make the railways a better place for the nearly 7 odd million Mumbaikars
that use them every day. I will be submitting a summarized version of this to
the DNA. Note that I have tried to go beyond the usual stuff (e.g. increasing
no. of coaches in every rake, extra services or increasing the no. of lines
etc.) since there either involve huge, and possibly improbable, changes in
infrastructure or are (in case of increased no. of coaches) not sustainable
going forward. Your comments/observations are most welcome.
I
have divided my suggestions into two main categories:
a.
Basic changes
b.
Passenger amenities and education (this I will cover in the 2nd
post).
Glossary:
‘Rake’ refers to the entire ‘train’ while coaches are divisions of a rake (i.e.
9-coach rake, 12-coach rake etc.). ‘Rake’ and ‘train’ may be used
interchangeably.
Basic changes:
a)
All-standing coaches: I will
start off with the most radical suggestion of all. I firmly believe that there
should be at least two, if not three, all-standing coaches in each rake. This
is for the benefit of short-distance travellers. In the space currently occupied
by six seats (three facing each other) today only 8 people (6 in first class)
can sit. However, if the seats are
removed, that same space can easily accommodate 12-15 standees, straightaway an
increase in capacity of 50% at least. It will also be easier to move around in
such a compartment. People that are travelling over short-distances (say people
like me who travel not more than 4-5 stations) should be encouraged to use such
coaches whereas the long-distance travellers can continue using the existing
coaches. For a journey not lasting more than 15 minutes or so, I would gladly
travel in a coach without seats (which would reduce the crowds in the gangway
and near the doors). Incidentally, there were a few coaches some years back
which had two, instead of three, seats in a row. It was significantly more
comfortable than the normal trains (one of my friends referred to it as the ‘garba gaadi’, implying that it had
enough space in the aisle to play ‘garba’
J).
I wonder why the railways discontinued it.
b)
Extra women’s 2nd class
coach in peak hours: While the proportion of women to total no. of
passengers would have probably increased over past few years (more women
joining workforce etc.), the no. of coaches reserved for them has not increased
(in terms of % to overall capacity of the rake). In the evenings, the ladies 2nd
class coaches are a horrible sight from the outside, with ladies clinging on
for dear life. Hence, there is a need for an additional half (or full) coach for
women during peak hours (8 – 10 am and 5 to 8 pm). If need be, one ladies
special during this period can be reduced (there is a world of difference in
the occupancy levels of a ladies special and that of the ladies coaches in a
normal train).
c)
First class coaches to be refurbished:
Today, as the popular saying goes, the only difference between 1st
and 2nd class in Mumbai locals is the odour of those around you.
Till recently, first class fares had remained virtually static for many years,
which ensured that many more people (as a result of increased income) could
afford first-class travel, as a result leading to over-capacity in first class coaches.
Case in point, I travel from Goregaon to Santacruz in 2nd class
every morning (even though I have a 1st class season ticket) simply
because I have no way of getting into the 1st class coach at
Goregaon station. Hence, I feel first class coaches should be upgraded in terms
of facilities (AC etc. ?) even at the cost of increasing the fares further.
Maybe there can be a ‘luxury first class’ coach in each train (along with the
two regular 1st class coaches) with a premium being charged on its
tickets. I prefer this to the suggestion of having full AC trains, which too
me, do not serve much purpose. Maybe having such luxury first class coaches may
also take some private cars off the road?
In
the next post, I turn towards the balance part (almost as important) viz.
passenger amenities and education.
Regards
Amit
B & C are well made, though don't agree with A.
ReplyDelete1) In the jam packed Mumbai trains, how will you control who gets in for short distance, unless the entire train is a short distance one
2) More importantly with no seating space the entire compartment would be horribly crowded with no breathing space. Look at the amount of pressure there is in parts where there are no seats. With the seats also gone the whole compartment would be full of jam packed bodies like sardines in a can. Shudder at that thought.
3) No amount of incremental capacity will improve the over crowding situation unless there is some load distribution in areas which people travel to. The passenger carrying capacity would have doubled over last 10 odd years yet the crowd density is same or worst during peak hours.
4) Offices should be encouraged to have office timings through the day. With most of the manufacturing units moving out of the city, we are left only with corporate offices who mostly function around the 9 to 6 timelines. With the shift system gone 7 to 9 and 6 to 8 become peak hours. If offices timings are managed more intelligently then the situation can be improved with better capacity utilization.
Regarding first 2 points: of course, it is not mandatory for short-distance travellers to travel in these coaches. I have feeling that short distances travellers would themselves figure out that this is a better way to travel.
ReplyDeleteAs regards the pressure in parts where there are no seats, the pressure is partially because the seats occupy so much of space. Remove them and the capacity of the coach increases by 30-40%. As I said, for short distances, it may matter a lot. Of course, the coaches would need to have better ventilation, extra - and working :) - fans etc..
As regards points 3 and 4, it is beyond the scope of the railways, but yes, I do agree !