I am no regular traveller of the Mumbai Suburban trains. Infact I an not a citizen of the Mumbai community. My exposure to Mumbai has been restricted to the 2 months of Stay last year. For my experiences on Mumbai, wait for a couple of days.On to Local Trains., so why am I writing this review?
The reason is to potray a ’’ True ’’ picture of what the first time travellers of Mumbai can expect of Mumbai locals. The title of the ensuing story can also be interpreted as ’’My Adventures in Mumbai Locals’’
I landed up in Mumbai on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. As soon as I landed up in Chowpatty, my friends planned for a trip to Bandra Stand and hence we took a ’’fast’’ train from Churchgate to Bandra. The train was clean and very few people. Compare this to the dirty and littered trains of Chennai, the first impressions of Mumbai locals was impressive
Since my workplace required me to travel by bus, my travel in locals for the first 2 weeks was restricted to bus and hence used locals only on weekends. The more I used the locals, the more impressed I was.
And then came the fall, I visited my relatives on Sunday and stayed overnight. The next morning, all hell broke loose as I reached the station as I saw a serpentile queue formed at the ticket counter. After braving in the crowds for 15 mins., I managed to possess a tickt and hurried upon to the platform to meet a hurge surge of humanity standing there and favouring their chances in the next local. The local came and a wave surged into the local. I was unlucky to miss the first 3 waves and caught the 4th local to reach the office by 10. Crowded, Choked and ruffled, I stepped out in Churchgate with my clothes resembling the ones taken out of a washing machine Dryer. Here lay my first lesson of Mumbai Locals Never wear a tie when boarding a local (forutunately, my tie was safe in the pocket.. but did suffer to some extent) Lord., how did these people travel?
The next big experience came some 2 weeks later. I had taken ill and decided that the best place to spend is with my relatives. So I left office and came to the station to go to Andheri. A fast Train came and a humanity surge later, I found myself in the First Class compartment. It was crowded but not overwhelming. After the train started from Bandra Station, I moved to a position closer to the door. People started giving me srious looks and I could not figure it out. The station of Andheri came and as I tried to alight from the train, a human barricade formed and the people did not allow me to get down. I was tired, ill and confused and their actions was incomprehensible. A kind gentleman standing there then explained that THAT FAST TRAIN WAS A VIRAR FAST and they do not allow to alight till after Borivalli. They allowed me to alight in Dahisar, some 10 kms away from my destination of andheri and had to travel back. Here lays my second learning. The locals of Mumbai have their own customs and they are very strictly followed by the people. It is better for the uninducted into ’’amchi Mumbai’’ to stick to the slow and then after sufficient travel move to the fast trains.
After a couple of months, I came back to Jamshedpur, but I still miss the Locals. A little bit of information on the locals
The locals run to 20 hrs a day from 4 AM to midnight, the largest number of hours put in by any local service in India
The Mumbai locals transport approximately 30% of the Mumbai population
A fleet of 1000 trains caters to the different locations
I have noticed the dirtiest of the local stations is about 10 times that of the cleanest Railway station in India.
The automatic ticket machine is one of its kind in India
But of all things, to me what makes Mumbai is vada pav and locals...anyone travelling to Mumbai, make sure you experience this .... one thing not to miss in Mumbai
Amchi Mumbai .... I miss you a lot ..