15 September,2022 11:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Before the pandemic, 2,536 Mumbaikars, on average, would travel in a 12-car train on the Central Railway daily. The current figure stands at 1,795. Pic/Ashish Raje
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Six months after all pandemic restrictions were lifted, Mumbai local train passenger numbers are still nowhere near the pre-COVID-19 figure. Earlier, 80 lakh passengers used to travel daily on Mumbai's local trains, a number that has dropped to just over 60 lakh. This is despite the fact that the number of local train services has increased over the same period.
Experts said the rise in two-wheelers, private cab apps and working from home might be some of the reasons behind the decline. According to official statistics, during pre-COVID-19 times, the number of local train passengers on the Mumbai division of Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) was 45 lakh and 36 lakh respectively. The latest figures reveal that only 32.5 lakh and 27.24 lakh commuters avail of CR and WR services respectively.
During pre-COVID-19 times, 2,536 Mumbaikars, on average, used to travel in a 12-car train on CR daily, which has now come down to 1,795. On WR, the figure was 2,550, which has now come down to 1,981. However, the number of train services has seen a rise. Two years ago, the number of services was 1,774 on CR, which has gone up to 1,810, and 1,367 on WR, which has risen to 1,375.
Experts cited many possible reasons for the decline, including the rise of two-wheelers in the city, apps and the work-from-home trend. They also said there could be many ticketless travellers, who are not accounted for.
Paresh Rawal, public policy (transport) expert, said, "Many things have changed in work culture. Flexible working hours have contributed to the increase in personal car usage and hence the decline of suburban trains. However, we still see super-dense crowds in peak hours. A bit less dense perhaps but dense enough to make you gasp for breath."
Citizen Transport Committee member Jitendra Gupta said most people had been forced to buy two-wheelers during the pandemic. "In fact, during this period, many two-wheeler parking slots came into existence in areas where they were never allowed earlier," he stated.
Architect and transport commentator Jagdeep Desai said, "How much is the decline? I travel every other week from Vasai/Dahanu in first class. It is always jam-packed, and many travellers appear to be ticketless between Borivli and beyond. But the point is, trains are packed."
The number of two-wheelers has touched 25 lakh in the city this year, which means there are 1,250 two-wheelers for eve-ry kilometre of road. Statistics show that in 2021 alone, 1.24 lakh new scooters and motorcycles were added, an average of 340 new bike registrations daily.
In 2021, the Wadala, Borivli, Tardeo and Andheri RTOs registered 34,791, 33,020, 32,597 and 23,815 two-wheelers respectively.
E-bikes sales have also been significant but they are not documented as they do not require RTO permissions.
Railway officials said ticket checking has been up to the mark and the drive will be stepped up if required.
"WR organized several ticket-checking drives from April to August 2022, thereby recovering R87.18 crore," a senior official said.
A senior CR official stated that its ticket-checking team generated a record R143.37 crore in the same period.
Ridership in BEST buses has crossed the pre-COVID-19 levels. As per statistics, the number of passengers using BEST buses in the pre-pandemic times was about 32 lakh. Since July 2022 it has exceeded 33 lakh due to various measures like lowering the minimum ticket fare.
Shedding light on how work practices have changed in recent times, a software professional said, "Many IT companies and banks have started hybrid working wherein employees can attend office once or twice a week and work from home on other days. But they need to be logged in for 12 hours for office work."
