‘Mumbai’s lifeline is off track, needs urgent attention'

Mamata Banerjee will present the Union railway budget today. Mumbaikars have great expectations from the railway minister and have prepared a wish list. DNA finds out what the daily passengers and experts anticipate from the annual exercise.

Make it convenient for physically challenged

There are 65 lakh commuters using the suburban railway system, but the system doesn’t cater to the needs of passengers with disability, senior citizens or pregnant women. Alighting or going into a coach becomes an arduous task for even able-bodied commuters. Secondly about 4,000 casualties occur annually. This can be averted in two ways. A short term scheme is to provide paramedic treatment in the golden hour, which in fact can be provided within three minutes of the occurrence of an accident. The long-term solution is to augment the carrying capacity of public transport, which is being done through MUTP and the Metro Rail. However their combined capacity falls short; implementing BRTS can be an answer to the problems.
—Sudhir Badami, transportation analyst

Security at stations and terminals paramount

Considering the increased load and dependency on travel, Mumbai should be given top billing. We have dispatched a letter to the railway minister for this year’s budget allocation. For passenger amenities, we have demanded bigger and wider footbridges at stations. Secondly we have demanded for conversion of 9 coach trains into 15 coach rakes. We have demanded for a unified security force by combining railway and state police personnel for reducing problems. Moreover for better coordination we have asked for all railway organisations under one roof.
—Madhu Kotian, president, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh     

Need better security and cleaner platforms

Trains on Western Railways have been delayed by 10 minutes at least everyday, though this may not seem to be a lot of time, but for people travelling to offices with deadlines, it is very crucial. Some railway stations are maintained badly. Trains are always running up to half an hour late on weekends and many trains getting cancelled causes additional chaos. We need to have more first class compartments for women and better security at night in these compartments. Amenities in the trains like seats and fans need to be upgraded. I’m hoping that the budget will bring some more security for women and cleaner railway platforms.
Prashansa Jhaveri, associate consultant

Some platforms don’t even have basic facilities

The government shouldn’t increase price of tickets on the suburban railway. Even after getting so much revenue from the city, commuting in Mumbai is not easy. The condition of Central and Harbour lines are awful. On both these lines, trains never ply on time. On the Central line, beyond Kalyan, the service is prone to breakdown. Other facilities like indicators are mostly out of order. The roof over most platforms has worn off, this leaves many commuters to fend for cover in the event of a downpour. Services on the Harbour line route have been neglected. Crowds have swelled, but there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in frequency of trains.
Bhaskar Tare, PR professional

Make journey of people pleasant and comfortable

Passengers have increased in large numbers on the central line, hence it is the need of the hour to increase capacity and frequency of trains. Commuters spend almost four hours travelling in trains and their travel must be made comfortable. Moreover sometimes there is no space to stand properly inside the compartment. So there is need to have 12 coach rakes. The administration needs to install new equipment to relay messages constantly to passengers. Usually the indicators don’t function and the announcements on the public address system are inaudible. So for the maintenance of infrastructure, the government must allocate a larger budget.
Akhil Ghag, accountant

Passengers must get latest information on schedules 

Mumbai local trains are bursting at the seams. There is seriously a need to upgrade the lifeline of Mumbai. The 12-coach rakes must be upgraded to 15-coach ones. Secondly even after great technological advancement in the country, our railway systems are unable to provide exact information to commuters. They should upgrade devices which inform passengers about the schedule of trains and also how much time they will take to reach the platform. Number of first class compartments should be increased. Like they have on the Western line, there should be direct trains on the Central line. Currently it is very difficult to go from Vashi to Kalyan.
Rahul Patil, business development executive

More superfast trains from Churchgate to Borivli

Local trains are indeed the lifeline of the city. Scores of commuters travel everyday. During rush hours, it is a Herculean task to travel in trains. I’m not a regular traveller but use the network sometimes due to official or personal work. The railway administration needs to plan for the existing and future population. They need to add more trains to the existing fleet. We need few direct trains from Churchgate to Borivli, so that time is saved. Even the facilities like food, ticket counters, public toilets and rest rooms need to be improved. I hope fares are not increased. We need a visionary budget than a populist one, which will focus on the next decade.
Anand Sharma, former banker

Women need more first class compartments and security 

Most people have to spend upto four hours daily while commuting to and fro from home to office. Despite paying first class fares, we don’t get our money’s worth. We should be able to travel in comfort. The situation on the Central Railway is bad. Firstly there is need to increase the number of compartments and frequency of trains. Currently a train arrives on a platform every five minutes, it should arrive in three minutes. Thirdly railway stations still don’t have modern equipment to inform passengers, in case of changes in schedule of trains. Since the strength of  women commuters has increased, they must add more first class compartments.
Shrutika Jadhav, sales coordinator