Mumbai’s suburban railway network is among the busiest in the world, second only to systems like Tokyo’s, carrying nearly 68 lakh passengers daily across its vast Central, Western, and Harbour lines. Renowned for its efficiency with trains running at intervals as short as three minutes during peak hours it remains the city’s lifeline. However, beneath this remarkable efficiency lies a stark reality. Mumbai’s local trains are also among the world’s deadliest mass transit systems, having claimed over 45,250 lives since 2009.

Despite significant improvements in punctuality and service coverage, gaps in infrastructure upgrades and chronic overcrowding continue to pose daily risks to commuters. For millions who depend on these trains, safety remains a persistent concern, a price many unknowingly pay for mobility in the city.

Mumbai’s daily commute by numbers

Mumbai’s suburban railway system—comprising the Central and Western Railway networks spans a 474-kilometre route and connects commuters through 122 suburban stations. To meet the city’s enormous transit demand, 233 local train rakes are deployed to operate approximately 3,204 services every day.

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These trains, with a carrying capacity ranging from 4,916 to 7,892 passengers per rake, collectively transport nearly 68 lakh commuters daily, making it one of the most intensively used mass transit systems in the world.

One of the deadliest transit systems in the world

Over 45,000 lives were lost in the suburban railways system in the last fifteen years, the Central and Western Railways informed the Bombay High Court. The Central Railways (CR) submitted that a total of 29,321 lives have been lost in the suburban railways (local trains) system from 2009 till June, 2024. Among the reasons cited for deaths are passengers crossing railway lines, falling down from trains, getting knocked down by electric poles, and gaps between platforms and footboards. On the other hand, Western Railways (WR) recorded 16,475 death cases from 2009 to 2024. In June 2024 the Bombay High Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the high rate of fatalities in Mumbai’s suburban railway system, saying “human passengers are carried like cattle” on local trains

The everyday dangers of Mumbai’s suburban railways

Mumbai’s suburban railway network, often described as the city’s lifeline, also ranks among the deadliest public transit systems in the world, with thousands of fatalities recorded each year due to a combination of overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, and unsafe commuter practices. The most common cause of death is illegal track crossing, as commuters, often in a rush or deterred by poorly located foot overbridges, choose fatal shortcuts across railway lines. Electrocution is another recurring danger, typically occurring when individuals climb over coaches and come in contact with 25,000-volt overhead wires. Stampedes, though less frequent, have proven devastating none more

so than the 2017 Elphinstone Road tragedy that killed 23 people exposing how narrow footbridges and platforms buckle under pressure during rush hours. But perhaps the most visible and tragic symptom of this overburdened system is the number of people falling from moving trains crammed well beyond capacity, with passengers forced to hang from open doors and footboards. According to Central Railway, 6,976 commuters have died after falling off trains since 2009, a figure that tragically grew just this past Monday when four more lives were lost in a single incident near Mumbra.

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What is the railway doing to address these issues?

Mumbai’s suburban railway services currently operate at 100% capacity utilization, meaning trains carry passengers up to their full, intended load. However, the possibility of expanding the system further is severely limited by the city’s unique constraints. Mumbai is among the most densely populated cities in the world, with little free land—especially in the island city and older suburbs. Any rail corridor expansion would require large-scale land acquisition, often through tightly packed slums, markets, and residential zones, making it both logistically and financially challenging.

Another major hurdle is that Mumbai’s suburban trains share tracks with long-distance express and freight services. This shared infrastructure complicates any effort to add or segregate suburban tracks, as it would require massive timetable overhauls and infrastructure reconfiguration changes that would disrupt railway services far beyond the city.

Despite these limitations, the Railways has taken significant steps to improve commuter safety and capacity. Many trains have been converted to 15-coach rakes to accommodate more passengers, and services have been added to increase frequency and ease rush-hour pressure. Platforms at several high-traffic stations have been widened, and signaling systems upgraded to improve traffic management and reduce accident risk.

Perhaps the most visible enhancement in recent years is the introduction of over 160 air-conditioned local train services on both the Central and Western lines. These trains, equipped with automatic doors and modern amenities, aim to offer a safer, more comfortable alternative especially during peak hours.

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Are AC locals helping or hurting?

The introduction of air-conditioned local trains on Mumbai’s suburban railway network was intended to improve safety and comfort but in practice, it has created a complex dynamic. To accommodate AC trains within the tightly packed timetable, the Railways reduced the number of non-AC services, especially during peak hours. This led to greater crowding in the remaining non-AC trains, which continue to serve the vast majority of daily commuters. Despite their modern amenities, AC locals remain significantly more expensive, and many working-class passengers opt out due to the higher fares. As a result, AC trains often run underutilized, while the cheaper, regular locals are overloaded, particularly those running just before or after AC services. While the Railways has expressed intentions to eventually transition to an all-AC fleet, the current fare disparity and lack of universal accessibility risk worsening the crowding issue rather than alleviating it. Until affordability and frequency are addressed, AC locals paradoxically intensify the very congestion they were meant to reduce.

Could Monday’s tragedy have been prevented?

Preliminary reports suggest that Monday’s tragic accident which claimed the lives of four commuters and injured seven occurred due to sudden jerks experienced by passengers as the trains navigated sharp curves between Diva and Mumbra stations. The impact of these jerks caused overcrowded passengers, particularly those standing near the doors, to lose balance, collide with each other, and fall off the trains.

Alarmingly, this risk had been flagged months earlier. In February, Diva-based commuter Anand Maruti Patil had written to the Railway Ministry warning of the exact danger. In his complaint, Patil described how coaches tilted dangerously while negotiating the tight curves near the Parsik tunnel ahead of Kalwa, around Mumbra station, and toward Diva. He noted that during peak hours, the overcrowded conditions magnify the risk, as passengers near the doors are easily thrown off balance. He warned that these incidents were becoming increasingly common, often resulting in “serious injuries or fatalities”.

In response, Central Railway had acknowledged the issue but said that realigning or straightening the curves was not feasible due to the lack of available land along the densely packed corridor.

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Yet, the Railways has shown it can act when pressed. A slewing operation—which involves the lateral shifting of tracks — was earlier undertaken between Sion and Kurla to address a similar pattern of accidents where commuters were falling off due to track geometry and overcrowding. That successful intervention raises an important question: Could a similar engineering solution have been applied between Diva and Mumbra to avert Monday’s fatalities?