Mumbai: Harbour trains leave us behind, say commuters

A crowd at Bamandongri station, a trans-harbour link to Uran

My local train leaves before time!" Here's a rare complaint for a city like Mumbai. Commuters on the trans-harbour line of Central Railway have formally complained to the authorities about trains leaving the stations before time, causing a rush that leads to injuries. The key factor for the rush here is that train frequency on the trans-harbour line is as large as 45 minutes and if one train is missed, an hour is easily wasted.

‘Fed up of over punctuality'

"On Thursday morning I made our seventh complaint about Bamandongri railway station. Every time here, the train leaves before time. Before me, two commuters in a rush to catch it, fell on the platform. Are the railways waiting for someone's death on the platform?" questioned commuter Ramjee Shiwakoti.

Before the pandemic, about 12,000 commuters took the train from Bamandongri station

Narrating details of the incident, Shiwakoti said, "The train departure time is 10:05 am and it arrived at 10:02 am (without a horn, which could have alerted commuters). Many who were still walking to the platform did not realise that it was already at the station. The horn was sounded for departure at 10:03 am and then there was a rush on the staircase and platform to catch the train. Many even requested the motorman and guard to stop it for a minute, but they did not pay attention. I was on the staircase so could not catch the train, but a few who reached the platform tried to catch the running train as there is a huge gap in frequency at these stations. In the process, some succeeded in catching the train, but three commuters, including an old lady fell. One of the three was injured seriously and had to be sent to a hospital in an auto. Some of us commuters took one of the injured persons, who was a minor, to the railway office and lodged a formal complaint."

Senior divisional officials said as per the railway's rule, local trains on the Mumbai suburban railway are permitted to leave up to three minutes before the scheduled departure en route stations. However, at originating stations, the train will leave only at the scheduled departure time. Bamandongri is an en route (mid-way) station, hence what the railways are doing is perfectly as per rules. However, commuters said that given the huge gap between two trains, the railways need to be considerate towards them.

"There have been a number of verbal complaints on this issue and this time we jotted down a formal complaint. The trains always depart before time. We have also tweeted several times for increase in frequency of trains, but they are very ignorant. Also, the station does not have basic facilities like water for injured passengers," Shiwakoti added.

‘Increase the frequency'

"The frequency of trains on the section needs to be increased and there should be a train at least every 15 to 30 minutes. The railways cannot limit their services. Once the section opens completely till Uran, the crowd will rise significantly as already a huge number of housing apartments and colonies are under construction here," another commuter, Dr Savita Desai, said. Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said, "We have taken note of the complaints and suitable action will be taken in the interest of commuters."

Pre-pandemic, about 12,000 commuters took the train from Bamandongri station. Bamandongri is part of the trans-harbour line 27-km Uran railway project, Central Railway's fourth corridor. Of the 27-km stretch, about 12-km till Kharkopar has been functional and will open further till Ranjanapada in January 2022 and till Uran by September 2022. The line to Uran will facilitate Mumbai CSMT-Uran local trains, also offering connectivity to the proposed Navi Mumbai airport and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, one of the country's largest shipping ports.