'Next Station– Death': How Mumbai Locals Went from Being Lifelines to Deathtraps

Four people died after falling from two overcrowded Mumbai local trains in Thane. Railway experts dissect reasons.

(Photo: The Quint)

Just a few days ago, on 22 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 103 railway stations across 18 states after their renovation under the Centre's Amrit Bharat scheme.

Of these, four stations — Chinchpokli, Parel, Matunga, and Shahad — are on the Central Line of the Mumbai local train network, where four people lost their lives on Monday, 9 June, after falling onto the railway tracks from two overcrowded local trains. The investment in 15 such stations renovated under the Amrit Bharat scheme in Maharashtra alone was ₹175 crore.

"We are not against the renovation. It is very much required, considering the state of all our local train stations. But did it have to be the priority? Shouldn't people's money be prioritised to save people's lives?" asked Subhash Gupta, a Mumbai-based activist who has been working for the rights of railway passengers for the past four decades.

People travel by trains during rush hour, in Mumbai, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

(Photo: PTI)

At about 9:00 am on Monday, passengers boarded a packed Kasara-bound train that had departed from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). As the train crossed another CSMT-bound local train on the adjacent track at a sharp curve between Mumbra and Diva stations, passengers hanging on the footboards and clinging to the train came dangerously close to one another, got entangled, and fell onto the tracks.

According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), four people lost their lives while six others were injured. One of the deceased was a GRP constable.

"The distance between two trains is 1.5 to 2 metres, but on curves, a slight tilt occurs, and this could be an additional reason for the incident," said Swapnil Dhanraj Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Central Railway, speaking to the media on Monday.

The incident has reignited discussions and debates around infrastructure and the cost of living in Mumbai's suburbs.

Data from the GRP shows that seven people die on Mumbai’s railway tracks every day. In 2024 alone, 2,468 deaths were reported on local train tracks, of which 1,553 occurred on the Central Railway (CR) line. Among these, 570 deaths were due to passengers falling from local trains.

The alarming data raises several questions — What are the key reasons behind these deaths? What is being done to address them? Could the 9 June mishap have been avoided?

The Quint spoke to two railway activists and experts to understand where Mumbai’s local train system falls short, who is accountable for Monday’s tragedy, and what the new ‘master plan’ announced by the Railway Board following the incident entails.

'Priorities Need to Be Set Sorted'

In a media interaction in April during his visit to Mumbai, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, lauded the investment worth thousands of crores in Mumbai’s local train network.

Vaishnaw emphasised that infrastructure development worth nearly ₹17,000 crore—covering more than 300 kilometres of new lines—is currently underway at a rapid pace, with the aim of decongesting existing lines and improving service frequency.

However, many experts believe that the woes of commuters on the Central Line have not been prioritised compared to those on the Western Line. One of the most widely raised demands has been to overhaul railway stations beyond Thane so they can accommodate 15-coach local trains.

Passengers wait to board local trains amid a massive rush at CSMT, in Mumbai, Monday, June 9, 2025.

(Photo: PTI)

Nandkumar Deshmukh, a Thane-based railway activist, explained that on the Central Line, only the Dombivli and Kalyan stations currently have platforms capable of handling 15-coach locals—and that too, only on the fast corridors.

As a result, only about 20 15-coach trains run on the line, since most stations beyond Thane are not equipped to handle such long trains. Even at CSMT, only platform 7 can accommodate a 15-coach train.

In October last year, Central Railway was reported to be considering a plan to upgrade all stations beyond Thane to handle 15-coach trains—an initiative that, if implemented, could benefit an additional 2.25 lakh commuters daily.

"With property rates skyrocketing in Mumbai and in the Western Line suburbs, people have moved to lesser-known suburbs in search of affordable housing. The availability of trains and other modes of public transport must be assessed accordingly," Deshmukh said.

"The infrastructure needs to grow with the swelling crowds. On the Central Line, the trains already arrive packed from Kasara and Karjat. People simply cannot board at stations in the middle," he added.

'Crowding Has Increased Due to AC Local Trains'

Activists The Quint spoke to also blamed the rising frequency of air-conditioned (AC) local trains.

"The biggest issue is the replacement of AC locals. The common man, the poor of Mumbai, cannot afford the fare for AC train commutes. If a ticket costs ₹5 for a normal train, the same costs ₹50 for an AC train. As a result, the crowd is increasing in non-AC local trains. They have introduced AC local trains, but that has not increased the frequency of regular trains," explained Subhash Gupta, an activist working for the rights of railway commuters in Mumbai.

On the Central Railway line, where the accident took place on Monday, 14 new AC local trains were announced in April.

An air-conditioned local train in Mumbai.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

"Even if one regular train gets cancelled and an AC train turns up in its place, it makes matters worse. So, the crowd that could have been distributed across three trains now tries to board just one. People end up hanging on the footboards," he said.

The monthly pass between CSMT and Kasara for an AC local train currently costs ₹2,000.

"A person travelling on a Mumbai local train earns an average salary of ₹18,000 to ₹25,000. If you ask him to take a monthly AC pass at these rates, he cannot afford it. So, he travels on the non-AC locals by hanging. This is Mumbai’s ground reality. But neither the administration nor the politicians understand this," Gupta explained.

'The Solution Offered by Railways Will Not Work'

After the mishap on Monday, the Railway Board reportedly announced that new non-AC local trains will now come equipped with automatically closing doors, which will remain shut during commute and feature louvres for ventilation. The Board also announced other changes, such as roof ventilation units to blow in fresh air and vestibules to enable passengers to move between coaches.

CPRO Swapnil Dhanraj Nila said the initial prototype of these upgraded coaches will be ready by November. The coaches will be manufactured by the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory.

However, both experts The Quint spoke to raised concerns about the proposed changes.

"This is a ploy to fool Mumbaikars. Some years ago, Western Railway made failed attempts to implement coach doors that automatically close. Secondly, the opening and closing of doors will reduce train frequency because it will take more time. The only solution is to increase the number of trains and enhance their capacity," said Subhash Gupta.

"Even in crowded AC trains, the GRP has to intervene at times to close the doors. We are not against AC locals, but the fares must be affordable for the common man," added Nandkumar Deshmukh.

With the four deaths reported on Monday, concerns over passenger safety remain. But experts warn of larger issues surrounding misplaced priorities.

"This government has allocated maximum funds to railways. But the priorities are not sorted. The real need is to improve frequency and capacity, but the focus is on renovation projects like 'Amrit Bharat'. We are not against that—but the top priority must be service frequency and capacity," Gupta said.

Deshmukh, meanwhile, took a sharper stance.

"For trains like Vande Bharat, everything gets fast-tracked. You have trains passing through mountains, and even under the sea in other parts of the country. They could achieve all that. But in all these years, they couldn’t prioritise and resolve the daily issues faced by Mumbai’s local train commuters? Why? Because those projects are grand, expensive, and make headlines—while the lives of Mumbaikars are cheap and barely make the news. For them, our problems are too small," he said.