Mumbai: AC Locals No Longer a Comfort Quotient, But a Necessity!

Called the Lifeline of the Greater Mumbai region, the Mumbai Suburban Railway has so far only around a hundred AC trains—divided between its Western and Central lines with not a single rake available for the Harbor line at the moment. The first AC Mumbai local train was brought into service in 2017 by the Western Railway line while the Central Railway line had to wait till 2020 for its first AC rakes. Then the Pandemic delayed all proposals for more and more AC rakes and only this year there was some news of more than 200 rakes to be inducted. There’d been   suggestions that all the local train services be made airconditioned while a few leaders opposed this by saying only the regular services needed to be increased substantially. The price difference is obviously a factor here, for the fares for the AC trains are nearly six or seven times more than the regular fares as opposed to the contention of the Railways that the AC fares are more or less equal to that of the non-AC trains or rather will be the same once all the non-AC services are withdrawn. Whatever be the facts or the viewpoints, one thing is certain that the ‘comfort’ debate between AC and non-AC services is no longer valid, and the plain fact being that Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, needs the AC rakes in the largest possible quantity possible in view of the constant overcrowding with people hanging out, the increasing number of deaths of passengers and the climate change and global warming factors that make AC train services an absolute necessity. Our story here brings out that aspect loud and clear.Tired and exhausted after a full day out, we thought of trying the AC local trains in the evening after dismissing the app cabs for the surging fares that happen every evening thanks to the endless traffic jams, particularly on the Eastern highway, and thanks again to the endless construction works on the Metro train line, new flyovers or repairs thereof and the compulsive digging-up of the ‘service’ roads which happens rather ceremonially at least twice a year in every nook and corner of Greater Mumbai.

Yes! We were considering the ‘comfort’ factor for the simple reason that we never had a ride on the AC local trains before. The lady at the AC ticket counter of the Matunga central station was very courteous and pointed out that there was an AC train at 6.39 pm to Thane which suited our purpose perfectly. Although we found the ticket price more than seven times higher than the regular fare the comfort factor prevailed over us.

With about half an hour to wait, we seated ourselves cozily at the station benches and I treated my wife to steaming glasses of teas and boondi laddoos.

Various regular locals kept on passing on both sides of the tracks to various destinations. As the 6.35 pm overcrowded regular local to Thane station came, halted and left, we readied ourselves for our AC train.

Seconds and minutes ticked away; but there was no train or even announcements to that effect. Some other regular trains kept on coming on the opposite track. Our natural thought was that it was the delay factor which, in fact, distinguishes the Central Railway line of the Mumbai locals. The indicator board finally showed a 6.47 pm Kalyan local, and then the announcement said it was a Kalyan AC local. The ‘comfort’ urge within me speeded up my reflexes: perhaps the courteous lady at the counter misinformed us or that the said Thane AC local got cancelled or that it got merged into the Kalyan local; and in each of these possible cases we had to take that train lest we missed out on the AC trains altogether. Paying the price already it was a terrible thought to have at that moment. So I rattled up my wife into rapid action too and raced up to a convenient coach for the doors to open.

To our horrors, we found the coach filled up completely with people and we had to struggle hard to break through that human wall to reach the somewhat quieter insides with those ‘cushioned’ cozy seats, overburdened with human beings. We somehow managed to stand by a three-seater and the packets I carried in my hands didn’t make me feel any better.

Sion and Kurla, two of the major junctions in the central route, were the next stations. And at each platform of those, huge crowds greeted the AC train while the slithering crowds within struggled to get down. Fortunately, by the arrival of the second of those two junctions we managed to seat ourselves even as my wife began to worry almost to death about how we could possibly manage to get down at our station which is another major junction where even more crowds would be eager to board.

A few young girls with backpacks were standing on her side, most likely office goers returning home now at that prime rush hour, and she got into a conversation with one. The girl tried to reassure her saying that a lot of people of the coach too would be getting down at Thane and it’d not be too difficult to join in the flow of humanity out. She also pointed out that they preferred to board this train, because the extent of over-boarding is quite a bit less here thanks to the closing automatic doors than the regular trains and consequently lesser chances of accidents, injuries and deaths.

She is absolutely right, I thought as I know very well that scores of Mumbai local train passengers die or injure themselves on a daily basis in accidents, falls and stampedes/suffocation. At least such AC trains reduce the risk somewhat, I mused ruefully, even as I too started worrying about breaking out of the coach with my weary body only temporarily rested on the cushioned seats.

As instructed by the working lady we got up at the previous station to our destination and joined the unevenly hard-pressed line of human flesh leading up to the door. The helpful lady indicated my wife to stand squarely behind a tall muscular man ahead so that he’d act as the juggernaut to break through the human wall and alight! I smiled in spite of myself in charge just behind my wife and with my right hand on her shoulders so as to propel her through as well as do the best to self with my left hand carrying the packets and pressed to my smartphone that also needed quite a lot of protection. The hordes of lunging crowds greeting our train at the Thane platform that I sighted through the glass windows and the airconditioned gusts of air around me chilled both my body and mind in the most undesirable manner, shattering the ‘comfort’ factor fatally inside me.

As the automatic doors opened the lunging crowds filled up both the sides of the exit leaving only a tiny trail for the ousted in the middle, ready to burst in, while the unevenly hard-pressed line of humanity within launched itself into a seething breakdance to see light outside of the doors. At the last step on the way to light I literally pushed my wife to get her through the middle trail and in that process I nearly got caught into the surging flesh of humanity as to my horror again, I discovered myself as the last passenger to alight.

In my last-ditch effort to break through the middle trail I got swayed to my left and was nearly crushed against the train even as the packets in my hands flayed helplessly in the air. Luckily again, a few young working ladies in front of me made the tiniest of openings to me and I took the fullest advantage of that to break through—out in the welcome open air of the platform, still in a single piece, my mobile safe in the pockets and with my relaxed-now wife beaming at me!

Satiated sort of beyond measure we did have our first ride in a Mumbai AC local! And we reconfirm our belief that all Mumbai local trains ought to be made airconditioned, at least for the reduced risk of dying, if not for all the reasons cited above. And of course—the Mumbai Suburban Railways should always keep in mind that trains must not only run in a timely manner but also in more numbers during the rush office hours; special or AC trains should never get canceled; and the Railway officials should always give correct info and guidance.