Suburban Railway, Mumbai

Mumbai Railway Network

Railways are the important mode of transport in Mumbai owing to its massive population and the development of business centres in the city. The Suburban Railway, Mumbai, belongs to the ‘Mumbai public transport system’. The Mumbai Suburban Railway system take over 6.9 million passengers regularly, which comprises more than Indian Railway’s capacity to carry daily commuters. Mumbai Railway system has one of the maximum commuter densities among any of the railway systems worldwide. The trains that ply on these routes are known as local trains or locals. Besides the Indian Railways, the suburban railway system, Mumbai is one of the 1^st railway systems to have been constructed by the British in the year 1853. It is also one of the oldest railways systems in Asia.

Mumbai Suburban Railway network sprawls over a route of 464 kms and functions on 1500 V DC / 25000 V AC power supply. Electrical Multiple Units serves the purpose of the suburban rail network. 171 rakes are used for running 2342 trains, carrying 6.94 million commuters daily.

There are 2 zonal Railways that looks after the operation of the Mumbai Suburban railways- the Western Railway (WR) and the Central Railway (CR),

The Western line comprises the stations like Churchgate, Charni Road, Grant Road, Marine Lines, Mumbai Central, Lower Parel, Elphinstone Road, Mahalaxmi, Dadar, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar Road, Matunga Road, Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Vile Parle, Kandivali, Dahisar, Borivali within Mumbai and Mira Road, Bhayandar, Vasai Road, Nala Sopara, Naigaon, Virar, Saphale, Kelve Road, Vaitarna, Palghar, Boisar, Vangaon, Umroli, Dahanu Road outside Mumbai.

The Central line consists of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Sandhurst Road, Byculla, Masjid Bunder, Chinchpokli, Parel, Dadar, Currey Road, Matunga, Sion, Vidyavihar, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Nahur, Kanjurmarg, Mulund within Mumbai and Thane, Mumbra, Diwa, Kopar, Kalwa, Dombivli, Thakurli, Kalwa, Kalyan outside Mumbai.

The Harbour line belongs to the Central Railways and consists of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Sandhurst Road, Dockyard Road, Masjid Bunder, Reay Road, Sewri, Wadala, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Cotton Green, Chunabhatti, Tilak Nagar, Chembur, Kurla, Govandi, Mankhurd within Mumbai and Vashi, Sanpada, Nerul, Seawoods-Darave, Juinagar, CBD Belapur, Mansarovar, Khandeshwar, Panvel, Kharghar, in Navi Mumbai.

On May 2010, 84 new trains have been already delivered to Suburban Railway, Mumbai. In order to cater to the increasing demands of the commuters, a body called “Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd” (MRVC Ltd) was constituted by the joint envision of the Maharashtra Government and the Indian railway Ministry.

The huge increase in population of Mumbai and heavy inflow of people to the state is creating a threat to the safety concerns of the Mumbai Railways.  Over 3500 people die every year because of using unsafe means like crossing the rail tracks by foot, sitting on the roof of the trains, hanging from the train doors, etc. A metro and a monorail system are in the process of being constructed to improve the traveling conditions in the Mumbai trains and reduce the number of accidents. Further window bars and automatic doors will also be installed in the trains by 2016.

Suburban Railway, Kolkata

Kolkata Railway Network

The Suburban Railway, Kolkata is a rail system which connects the suburbs that surround Kolkata, the city of joy! These kinds of Railway networks are some of the major networks and hugely used infrastructure within the country.

There are several divisions of Indian Railways (IR) among which the South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway have their headquarters located in Kolkata.  Howrah and Sealdah are the 2 important railway junctions in Kolkata. One more important terminal has been constructed at Chitpur and is named as “Kolkata”. Of late a terminal located at Shalimar near Howrah has also started functioning.

There are several “intercity express trains” also operating from Kolkata. The city of Kolkata and its districts are replete with an extensive system of suburban railways. Majority of the trains are Electric Multiple Unites i.e. This Kolkata railway network extends into South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, Purba Medinipur, Bardhaman, and Paschim Medinipur.

The services at suburban railway, Kolkata are looked after by the Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER) while the Kolkata Metro Railways controls the underground Metro in the city. Further, there is a “Circular Railway corridor” in Kolkata which is also operated by ER.

In the year 2009, the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Baneerjee announced that “Ladies Special Suburban Trains” will be introduced in the suburban section of Kolkata. Some of the routes on which these ladies trains will run are

• Sealdah – ranaghat
• Howrah – Kharagpur
• Sealdah – Canning
• Howrah – Bandel
• Sealdah – Bongaon
• Sealdah – Baruipur

The Circular Railway, Kolkata encloses the whole of Kolkata. It begins from Dum Dum Station in North and passing through Burrabazar, B.B.D.Bag, Chitpur, Prinsep Ghat, Kidderpore, Remount Road, Hastings, Majherhat, Park Circus, Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt, Ballygunge, again returns to Dum Dum Junction. Plans are also there to construct more junctions in between Park Circus and Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt, namely Tangra and Beliaghata Main Road correspondingly.