Trans Mumbai Metropolitan Region On A Lazy Sunday

MAP COURTESY: MMRDA WEBSITE

It was the Sunday of 22nd November 2009 and I had got an off from office after a gap of 14 days. The last 14 days included many a shifts of more than 11 hrs and a marathon 38 hr shift after a server crash. I was in no mood to go anywhere on this much desired and anticipated off-day. On Saturday morning, I had a special request from a friend of mine to join him to go to Virar for checking out a few housing options. I tried to dissuade him from taking me on this long trip from my home, Dombivli. I tried to make him understand that I desperately needed rest. But he was in no mood to relent. Finally, I decided to give in to his demands. After all, I wanted to maintain the dignity of the proverb,” A friend in need is a friend indeed”.

So the plan was to go to Virar and visit a few properties, before heading back home to Dombivli. My friend, Babu was doing the night shift at office located at Cuffe Parade(Churchgate), Mumbai and he was to take a train to Vasai from Churchgate. Detrain at Vasai, and wait for me to join him at 11:05 at Vasai platform no 5, north end. Accordingly, he woke me up at 8:00 am in the morning and told me that he would be taking the Virar 9:35 Fast. I told him that I will take the 10:08 am MEMU service from Kopar. This was the first time I was travelling by a MEMU. The rakes are not as broad as the mainline EMU in the Mumbai suburban section, but are comfortable enough. I left home at 9:25 am, took a share auto and reached Dombivli station (East) at 9:40 am. I normally avoid travelling between 10:00 and 16:00 hrs on Sundays by CR as megablocks on the varied sections of CR tend to slow down the few services that operate during this period. There are a number of locals which stay cancelled or get delayed during this period. Most importantly, the crowd on Sunday is very little knowledgeable about travelling by EMUs as often we see the entire families travelling on an outing. On weekdays everyone knows where to stand, what a T,ST,C,K,A,AN,TL,N,S,KP,BL on the indicator stands for, how fast to alight or which side the next station comes, on Sundays all these trivial things are handled haphazardly as not all are habituated to the travails of the Mumbai EMUs.
As I carry a First Class season ticket pass from Kalyan to CST Mumbai, I take the CSTM end first class to go to office, but today I was planning to get down at Kopar, hence decided to take the Kalyan End First Class. After alighting on Platform no 3 from the skywalk connecting the Kalyan End FOB to Dombivli east, I headed straight to the Yellow/Red stripe markers on the iron pillars (which indicate First Class compartments). The station was choc-a bloc with families waiting for the next local in CSTM direction. The Indicator mentioned the next EMU,9:45 Semifast to CSTM. It was delayed by more than 5 minutes now. One can see the EMU departing from Thakurli as it is downhill from Dombivli. I was getting nervous, since I had to also buy tickets to Vasai at Kopar for the MEMU train. The EMU that pulled in was a Taxi-face MRVC local and after a brief halt of 30 seconds we left. The distance between Kopar and Dombivli is very small. The EMU did accelerate well even though it had to cover a very small distance. Reached Kopar (lower level) at 9:53 and I rushed to the ticket counter situated on the Kopar(Upper level) to stand in the queue. The MEMU service arrives on the Upper level on platform no 3. I do have a Suburban Smart Card, but it is not valid for the Kopar-Vasai section as the CR is still maintaining it as a Non-suburban section. There were many people wanting to buy tickets from the lone ticket counter that was open. I did see many commuters using the CVM machines to validate the coupons, I doubt if these can be used in this section. I waited patiently in the queue. There were a few restless commuters who were jumping the queue as after the MEMU service, there is no train till 14:35. They were greeted with the choicest of abuses by a few in the queue. The lady at the counter was very good at dispensing tickets. She managed to issue tickets at lightning speed. Finally after a nervous 10 minutes in the queue, got the tickets to Vasai Road. The expected time of arrival for the MEMU at Kopar is 10:08 hrs, it was 10:10 by the time I managed to touch down on the platform no 3. Soon the announcement of the MEMU departing from Dativli( a station on the Kopar-Panvel line ) was blared by the PAS. I decided to walk the entire length of the platform. There was a sizeable crowd waiting for this service. It was heartening to see the commuters lapsing up this MEMU service as the only other way to reach Vasai by train earlier was to take the long entourage from Dombivli to Dadar(CR) and then Dadar(WR) to Vasai Road. Below the bridge on the Lower level one could frequently see the EMUs making their way in an out of the Kopar platforms 1 and 2 on the mainlines. The MEMU finally arrived with its horns blaring at 10:16 am. Not knowing exactly the position of the coaches I waited patiently till it slowed down to a complete halt. I was happy to notice that there were a few empty seats.
Most often the difference between a window seat and a standing accommodation is a fraction of a second. A seasoned commuter always times his jump into the train to perfection, has eyes wide open to quickly locate the empty seats around, a micro-second decision to weigh the pros and cons of various seats pertaining to wind direction and sun rays and finally, brisk and athletic legs to plunge into the seat. I too timed by jump to perfection and managed to jump in to the most coveted seat in the compartment, a Window Seat. I was very happy to have achieved this feat. Soon the compartment was filled and there were 4 persons occupying the 3 seaters. Sitting beside me was a family of 9 individuals which included 2 kids (a 9 year old boy and a 7 year old girl).The kids were a restless lot, which I soon learned as soon as the MEMU left after a 2 minute halt.
I was experiencing the MEMU for the first time, and it did not disappoint me at that. The coach had seating of 3 X 2 facing each other. Luckily the seats were cushioned and the best thing was that the windows weren’t grilled and were very wide as compared to the normal EMUs that we commute on in Mumbai. I have this habit of resting one elbow on the Window pane and leaning out of the window to see the world outside and as usual followed the ritual. Today, I had compete with 2 young kids who were sitting beside me. I knew that they were jealous of me, for the coveted window seat which I had made mine. The girl, Ankita decided to forego here seat and rather stand next to the window. She should in the middle and blocked my uninterrupted view of the world outside. I was a bit irritated but was helpless. More annoying fact was that her hair was flying straight into my face. I had no options but to back-out and remove my elbow from the window pane. The MEMU had by now slowed down near the LC gate and the place where the infamous Gandhidham-Bangalore Express had derailed a few days back. It picked up speed and crossed the Ulhas river bridge and soon the Godown capital of Maharashtra, Bhiwandi Road (Station Code: BIRD) was visible. The MEMU halted for a brief 2 minutes. Many people got down here. Again we left with good acceleration. The way this little girl was clinging onto the window, I hoped she will soon join the IRFCA group. Her elder brother, Ankit was increasingly getting jealous of her. He was constantly pulling Ankita back to her seat so that he could take her position. She was adamant. Finally, Ankit complained to the other family members and managed to pull her back. The problem with this guy was that he was taller than the height of the window so even though he managed to get the window, he could not see outside unless he bend down, inconveniencing me. Finally, I suggested that he kneel down and he would get the best view. I had a hidden agenda in punishing him as; it would invariably make my view wider and clearer. We did stop enroute at Khaman Road and Karbhau. The entire Ghodbunder road with its tall buildings can be seen in the far south from Kharbhau. We did cross the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway enroute. After the stop at Juchandra, the entire Western Railway mainlines can be seen fast approaching us from the distance. I did spot 2 MRVC locals making their way to Vasai Road while we were slowly but surely reaching Vasai. The entry to Vasai was painfully slow as there is a speed restriction. We reached Vasai by 11:05 am. After Juchandra halt, I was constantly ringing up my friend to know his status on the MRVC local that he had boarded from Churchgate. Soon, I was convinced that I would be the first person to reach Vasai as he had only crossed Mira road, when I had left Juchandra. I decided to quickly take the FOB at the north end and get down on the east side of the station. The FOB is very narrow and was choc-a bloc with commuters who had detrained from my train. On the east side, there is a ATVM amchine, I soon took out my Smartcard and collected the printed tickets till Virar. Again took the same FOB and got down on Platform no 2.By now, it was clear that the next EMU expected to Virar was the one in which my friend was travelling. I advised him to stay back in the train and I will catch him at Virar. An MRVC local with the yellow taxi face made its way into the station and it was relatively empty (by Mumbai standards). I deliberately decided to stand in the corridor as I wanted to spot the upcoming Virar Car shed on the West side. The ride was good and direction indicator in the Emu also mentioned it to be a W.R. We don’t see such a thing in CR, which only indicates the next station and the destination station. After Nallasopara, on the west side, I could see for the first time, what could soon become a busy Virar Car-Shed. I guess 50-70 % work is over.
My EMU slowly entered, platform no 1 at Virar. The exit from the Virar station was as chaotic as I had seen a few years back. I noticed that MMRDA was in the process of laying and connecting the FOB to the new skywalk, which was under construction. Met my friend at the station entrance and spend the next few hours scouting for new / resale properties in the vicinity of Virar West. By the time I managed to reach Virar back, it was 14:00. Both the local platforms 1 and 2 had trains scheduled for departure.14:10 Churchgate Fast and 14:16 Dadar Fast. Since, my friend had to go back to Churchgate, we boarded the 14:10 fast local after vending out my tickets to Borivali from an ATVM Machine.
I could have gone to Vasai and taken the DMU back to Kopar at 15:35, but since I had already wasted ½ a day in commuting, I decided to explore some new avenues. The BEST undertaking had introduced the AC 700 Service from Borivali to Thane, a few months back and I wanted to try it out personally. When, I used to stay at Thane, I was a frequent traveler by the BEST AS 4 Service to Backbay Depot. It used to drop me in front of my office at World Trade Centre in 1.5 hrs-2 hrs. The ride in the 7:30 am bus ensured that I touched down in office before 9:30 am. The best thing about this service is that it has very few stops and AC for comfort along with TV/radio service. The seating arrangement too is far more comfortable and has wide windows to view the outside world. Before BEST Service 700 LTD came into being the long Borivali-Thane commute was only possible by a crackling State Transport Bus. Mind you, these buses were so bad in terms of interiors and exteriors, we used to call it “khatara bus”, but the only 2 things that I liked about these ST buses were their rash drivers and their engine upkeep. The ST bus drivers need to be saluted for the way they drive the buses in spite of all the problems. One look into the driver’s steering and the gear handle will make you understand what I am really talking about.
Anyways, our Churchgate fast, a DC local left at 14:10 and managed to reach Borivali by 14:43. I bid goodbye to my friend and took the North End FOB to find the Bus-stop for AC-700 service. Large scale construction work could be seen at the eastern entrance of the station, with regards the remodeling of platform no 6 and the new platform 6A.As I was getting down from the FOB, I noticed the AC-700 standing in the middle of the road. I could see that the bus was fairly filled with commuters and there was only space for standees now. I decided to wait for another bus as it made no sense in travelling the complete route standing after paying for the AC fare. It was 14:50 by now and the Bus-Stop Flag mentioned the service to be running at a frequency of 15-30-15.in the worst case scenario, I expected the next bus by 15:15. All the bus stops were without a roof and there was just a Bus-stop-Flag to indicate the particular BEST service. I understand it could be because of the railway remodeling work, adjacent to this road.
I was the first one in the line and next to me were a family of 3, a father, mother and their teenage daughter. The line of commuters was becoming longer by the minute. It was 15:05 and there were no signs of the AC bus approaching. The service actually starts from Magothane Depot and reaches Borivali East station enroute, though 99 % commuters get in here. So all of us were looking in the south direction for the Bus to appear on the horizon. I noticed that the teenage girl was very restless and was moving back and forth in the line. Her mother was continuously giving here menacing stares for doing so. Her father, though was unperturbed by all this. The girl and her mother were discussing something in Malayalam and the anxiety to give in an ear to their conversation was growing. Finally, I could understand that the girl wanted to visit the loo and her mother was scolding her for not anticipating the same before leaving their house. They did not know that I too was a malayalee and was getting the gist of their conversation. Her mother was adamant on waiting for the bus as the line had become too long by now and if they forego it to visit the loo, they would not be able to join back. But, the girl was understandably under tremendous pressure. After a lot of deliberation, the girl managed to persuade her mother to break the line and they told me that they will be back in a minute. I agreed, but told them in no uncertain terms that if the bus arrives before them then, I would not be able to vouch for them. I could see that they were heading back to the station. They returned back after 10 minutes and I somehow managed to convince people around that they were indeed in the line. They were happy with the vocal support. Finally at 15:30, I was the first one to catch a glimpse of the bus at the south end of the station. For a tongue-in-cheek remark, I shouted, “ ohhh… bus vannu…”( ohh… finally the bus has come… in malayalam). The expression on the face of the mother and daughter was worth seeing. They must have realized that I had understood all the quarrelling they had before visiting the loo. I had deliberately shouted in Malayalam to get that expression out of them. Cruel me…….
I decided to take the 3rd last window seat, as the suspensions of the Kinglong buses used for the AC services are indeed good. They are run on CNG, the only grouse is the initial acceleration. The bus struggles to pick up speed instantaneously as opposed to the other buses purchased by BEST under MUTP Phase –I. but, once the Kinglong hits the highway, it shows its true potential. By the time, the bus was ready to leave it was filled to the brim. The latest modification in these buses being a large central pneumatic door, under instructions from the state government, after a school bus fire in the recent past. This has reduced the number of seats in the buses by at least 4. There were more than 25 people standing in the bus. The middle class in Indian metropolises has certainly boomed. So many people were ready to shell out that extra for a comfortable ride. The bus fare was a flat Rs. 50 /-. There was a traffic jam at the entrance of the MSRDC(ST) stand and by the time we reached the Western express highway(WEH), we had lost 15 minutes. The real ordeal started after that. We took an agonizing 50 minutes to commute the distance till the entrance of Ghodbunder road. There were large scale traffic jams on the WEH as the flyover construction work was in progress in the middle of the road. To add to the agony were some haphazard parking by private vehicles and Private Tour Operators. Dahisar Check naka was chaotic as ever and the junction at the entrance to Mira-Road continues to be the problem area. The traffic was bumper to bumper at these locations and the bus was crawling. By the time our bus took a right turn to Ghodbunder Road, it was 16:40 hrs. If I had waited at Vasai for the 15:35 DMU, I must have surely reached Kopar by then. No point in thinking about the bygones.
Ghodbunder Road is an important road as it connects Thane to Borivali in the shortest possible way; the other alternatives are really dreadful, the less frequented Mulund-Goregaon Link road, the new Vikhroli-Jogeshwari link road, or the painful entourage via Sakinaka-Chakala and Andheri. MSRDC has done a splendid job in maintaining the road pothole free. At certain places we traverse through the Sanjay Gandhi National park. The road has been cut through the rocks on south side and we have the Thane creek as a faithful companion on the north side. It’s a nature lovers delight, but equally scary in the night. At certain places we do see the Road signs of “Beware of the leopard”. As soon as the Bus enters the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) limits it becomes the widest road in Maharashtra. All thanks to the erstwhile commissioner of Thane, T. Chandrasekhar. The residents of Thane have a lot of respect for this person. He was instrumental in the makeover of the once sleepy town of Thane into the present day modern urban conglomerate. My bus was speeding through the highway, like there was no tomorrow as we were very late. Soon the forest and creek side gave way to huge complexes, malls, service centers and skyscrapers as we neared Kaburbawdi. I learn that TMC is building a flyover at this junction to ease the commute for citizens as long distance plying trucks can then take the flyover, to avoid the city traffic.AC 700 service uses the unconventional way of reaching Thane station as it does not terminate on the West side of the station. It takes the Eastern Express highway(EEH), right up to the gates of Mumbai traversing over the Kopri Rail Bridge and reaches Thane’s Anand Dighe Praveshdwar and make a U turn to reach the Thane Station East. When the bus was running parallel to the railway tracks, I spotted a late scheduled Sinhagad Express due to girder work at Karjat between 10:00 and 15:30 hrs.It was 17:30 and by the time I alighted from the Mulund End FOB to platform no 5, the WCG2 driven Sinhagad had come to a halt. After an unusual 10 minute halt, it left and I was waiting to see the next scheduled fast train as the timetable goes for a toss on Sunday at CR. Fortunately, the 17:10 Badlapur fast was scheduled next. I boarded the Kalyan End First class and stood by the side of the door. Instead of the customary 13 minutes the EMU took 23 minutes before reaching Dombivali. We halted twice before Parsik tunnel and once before Diva LC gate. Alighted from the EMU at 18:05, took a share auto and reached home at 18:20. Thus bringing to an end a long and tiring journey through a small section of Mumbai Metropolitan region. I am a maverick when it comes to discovering the alternative routes. Whenever I have time on hand, I make it a point to travel by the unconventional and alternate routes just to discover them.
-Nikhil Padinjaroot Karunakaran
Dombivali(+91-9819250516)

Have u ever missed the last local? I have….

On 26th October 2009, when the motorman were protesting to have their demands heard, I was one of those who managed to travel by my favorite window seat albeit a little late. That day I was doing afternoon shift (14:00-22:30 HRS) at office. I left home at 11:40 am and took a share auto to Dombivali. I reached the station at 11:55, just in time for the 11:59 CST local from Dombivali. As I was making my way to the Platform no 2, I observed that all the local train timings on the indicators were of the trains I normally don’t see. Actually, the trains were late by 30-45 minutes. There was unusual rush on the Kalyan End FOB for this time of the day. Soon, it was announced that the next local expected on Platform no 3 would go only until Thane. I decided to peek across the FOB to platform no 2 and as expected there was no 11:59 CST local, neither was it scheduled on the indicators.
I decided to try my luck as there were 2 CST locals starting from Dombivali platform no 2 within a gap of 16 minutes, the 11:59 and 12:15 locals. I expected at least one of them to be scheduled in some time as the trains that were arriving on platform no 1 indicated that the Down local from CST should be on its way as most of the trains that used to run before it were slowing making their way in and out of Platform no 1.I was hopeful and was paid handsomely. At 12:10 the PAS blared about the 11:59 CST local. I was relieved. As soon as the train entered the platform no 2, the number of commuters wanting to enter the EMU had swelled exponentially. With a well timed jump into the CST End first class I managed the coveted Window seat facing the fast tracks. This is mostly the second choice for many who jump into the train in hope of the Window seat as this side bears the brunt of the sun for most of the journey. I have no qualms in taking this seat as it
gives me a view of the fast tracks.
The 11:59 CST local actually left at 12:17. The journey was a real drag. The accident site was covered at less than 20 kmph. Some curious commuters were still trying to smarten themselves from the recent tragedy at this spot. We managed to reach CST by 13:45. I took a bus and reached office by 14:10.
I was planning to leave office when some urgent work held me back at 22:30 and had to stay back till 23:10. By the time I reached CST, it was 23:25 and the last fast local on CR the 23:18 Ambarnath Fast had already left and I had to catch a slow local. I normally get down at the Times of India entrance of CST and take the FOB at the Kalyan End to get down at the platforms. One sight at all the indicators clearly defined the day for me, the trains were still running late. (23:18 being an exception) The 22:55 T, 23:05 A, 23:10 T, 23:20 N were all scheduled for departure from various platforms. I decided to get down on platform no 3 and take the 23:05 Ambarnath local. It left at 23:30. The First Class travel at late nights in Kalyan End of the slow locals is enjoyable and sometimes scary too. Many a times you are the lone commuter in the coach and the next person who boards your coach would be as far as Byculla and sometimes Dadar too. My coach was fairly
populated by the time Byculla arrived. I was feeling sleepy as the nights are increasingly becoming colder nowadays. (Yes, it’s an irony that 24 deg Celsius in the night is considered cold by we Mumbaikars). I often lean by the window and take a good nap before my alarm wakes me up in time for Dombivali. I normally set and alarm of 1 hour and 10 minutes with respect to the departure time at CST. I forgot to set the alarm. As the stations went by, I did wake up at some stations en-route like, Sion , Bhandup and Diva.
I should have readied myself to get down at Dombivali, instead went back to sleep. The stretch between Diva and Kopar has vast open landscapes. During the chilling winter months the winds blown in through the window at this location are extremely cold and most of the commuters down the Glass Shutters. I should have known this fact. My eyes opened again as we were leaving Dombivali. By the time, I managed to gather my conscience and rush to the door, the EMU had gathered speed and I dared not to jump and hurt myself. I decided to alight at Thakurli station, which is very close to Dombivali. I was praying that the last train in the UP direction shouldn’t have left Thakurli before I reach it. As the luck would have it. By the time, my EMU entered Thakurli’s island platform 1, the last CST bound local from Badlapur was making its way out of the platform no 2 side of the island platform. I rued my timing. It was already 00:50 and the train I missed had a
scheduled departure of 00:15 from Thakurli. But knowing the fact that the day was full of delays I thought I had a last chance of a 00:25 EMU which runs till Thane.
I wasn’t lucky enough. The indicators went blank, and in all probability the train I missed was the last train in the UP direction. Thakurli is a very small station on the curve. It has a lone island platform and a manned LC gate at its’ south end. Even though an FOB exists, most of the commuters take the dangerous way out of the station to the east or to the west. Every 10-15 minutes the EMUs to places north of Kalyan were making their way in and out of Thakurli’s Platform no 1. I was the lone warrior waiting for the miracle facing the Kalyan end. Frustrated at myself, I decided to venture out and scot for an auto. I was ready to pay anything for the ride. Alas, there were no autos on either side of the LC. All I could see were angry and barking dogs. I am one of those guys who is very scared of dogs. Even though the distance between Thakurli and Dombivali was fairly walk able in 20 minutes, the fear of dogs chasing me prevented me from taking
such a risk in the night.

As I was walking the stretch of this lone platform I noticed a drunkard who was begging at this time of the night. I shooed him away. Later, it dawned upon me that he was at home at the station, but I wasn’t. It was increasingly becoming scarier. I approached the guard at the LC gate and asked him if there is going to be anymore locals in the UP direction, do my dismay, he answered in the negative. I tried to ask him if he knew anybody who drove auto in the night, so that I could approach the guy and make my way home. But, the guard knew nobody. I could see that the Signal was green in the Up direction. There was a train approaching from Kalyan side. I rejoiced for a moment, but to my utter disbelief it was a WDS6D Shunter making it way to Kurla.
In the meanwhile, my mom called up to ask where I was. I explained her the situation and she suggested that I make my way to Kalyan as it was a bigger station and I could manage to get some sort of transportation as the trains in the Down direction were still running. I decided against it as it would mean moving further away from home. Yes, it would have been fun to railfan all night at Kalyan, but if you got to go to work the next day then this option goes out of the window. I took out the CR Local timetable sheet from my bag and found that there is a 02:30 Emu from Karjat in the UP direction reaching Thakurli at 03:36. It was 01:30 by now. I decided to spend the next 2 hours at the deserted station. I tried calling up the MERU Cabs service and the reply was they could arrange for a cab only by 2:30 am. I told the agent to not book the cab as it did not serve my purpose.
There is a road which runs parallel to the eastern side of the railway tracks between Thakurli and Dombivali. I was constantly monitoring it to catch a glimpse of any vehicle which could help me. I saw two young men walking across the LC onto the platform. One of them walked straight to me and asked for my cell phone saying, “Brother, I have no balance in my phone, would you lend me your cellphone to make a call, its urgent”. With a hidden agenda in mind, I allowed him to make a call from my cell even though both these guys were drenched in liquor. The pungent smell was all over, I barely managed to stand beside them. After he returned the phone, I asked him if he could do me a return favour my telling me if there is any mode of transportation (Auto/Taxi/Private cabs) available. He mocked at me for asking such a silly question.

I decided to ignore them as they were conversing amongst themselves in a very abusive and abrasive manner. Suddenly, I could notice a small dim light on the parallel road slowly and steadily approaching the LC. I shouted at the top of my voice to alert the driver of my presence, but as the bad luck would have it, he could not hear me because of a WCAM3 passing with an unknown express, most probably it was the late running Mahanagari Express. Finally, after five more minutes another auto seemed to be approaching the LC gate. I didn’t want to take any more chances hence, crossed the tracks and managed to haul the auto to a stop. Frantically, I asked him,” Shankheshwar Nagar, Manpada, Dombivli”. He looked at me and finally nodded his head in the affirmative. With a huge sigh of relief, I relaxed and within 15-20 minutes managed to reach home. I paid the guy Rs. 50 only. He was happy to return back with a heavy price for the last haul (by his
standards). I had to give a silent ear to all the bashing for being irresponsible and sleeping without an alarm at home. But the end result was I was finally home by 02:15. I dare not sleeping in the train without setting an alarm…hehehehe…

Day when my conscience corrected me...

My interaction with various people I met in my organization has always been precise and to the point. I am an introvert person and that could be the principle reason behind it.


In my department, we had a colleague who had a very cool temperament to all the things we said about him. He never retaliated. He always smiled back. I had often wondered why this person smiled back even though he was the butt of our jokes. Seriously, I never understood him.


One fateful day, when I was working in my department, I got a call from a lady saying that something was not working. I checked and found it to be working satisfactorily. Again, after a few minutes the same lady called back to say that the issue was far from resolved. I checked once again to find the issue was something else and rectified it. I decided to go back and clarify that what she was stating was not true and the issue was something else and has been rectified. I must admit that I was a bit irritated by that time. The conversation that started off casually soon became a war of words and even before I could realize what I was uttering, I categorically said, “that is why you are there and I am here”. She was yelling back at me in denial even though I pretended to hear nothing and left the place.


Soon it was time to pack the bags and take the long train journey back home. I deliberately take a slow local to give myself enough time to ponder upon how good or bad my day in the office was. I normally try to recollect the sequence of events in the day and it struck me that I had said something very nasty and the Almighty will never forgive me. I was not able to sleep well that night and was thinking of how to wash away my sins.


Next morning, I got up early and visited a temple, close to my house. I took time to pray for forgiveness. I reached office early and called up the lady to say sorry and apologize for the slip of tongue. She said, “It was ok”. But, I knew she had been bruised and aggrieved deep inside and I will never be able to fill up the wounds of humiliation. I had learnt my lesson.” Never hurt anybody”.


This incident made me think about the colleague who always smiled back. I decided that henceforth I will never crack a joke or be a part of a team that are keen on hurting others sentiments. I learnt to respect their feelings and emotions. I met my colleague and told him to forgive me for all the wrong doings. He just smiled back again……

Catching the High Speeds on the Run

Though, I had seen the videos of Mumbai-Howrah Duranto on the inaugural run by the various members. I wanted to catch the live action on the run.My best bet would have been to leave office early and station myself at Kurla or Kopar on CR as Deccan Queen is always found to be running at high speeds at these locations.Since i could not leave office before 16:30, my hopes of reaching CSTM to catch a local to Kopar or Kurla were dashed.So i decided to see it running parallel to my local. I intentionally boarded the 17:00 hrs slow local to Thane from CSTM and sat facing the fast lines towards CSTM.

The Ambarnath 17:00 fast as well as Thane 17:00 slow left from adjacent platforms 4 and 5 at the same time. We had a decent parallel run till Masjid, when Ambarnath finally went ahead. I was calculating the time it will take the Deccan queen and Duranto to cross my slow local. Finally, between Sion and Matunga, DQ sped away with its customary WCAM3. It was a real treat to the eyes as usual. Now, I was anxiously waiting for the Duranto. My only prayer was that my slow local doesnt get hidden behind any UP running slow local at Kurla as i was expecting the overtake on the run anytime. Finally, my slow local left Kurla with a good acceleration and Duranto appeared on the Down slow tracks. It was again with WCAM3 and was crossing Kurla at 17:30 covering CST-Kurla in flat 15 minutes. The unusual livery caught the attention of many commuters in my train. Now they knew, why i had occupied an oppposite seat and was continously scroching through the
windows towards trhe fast tracks.

It was mission accomplished for me and finally got down at Thane at 18:00 as my local had to stop for 2 red signals between Mulund and Thane. Crossed over from Platform no 3 to Platform no 5 at catch a fast local to Dombivili.

To my surprise, 18: 05 Badlapur which leaves CSTM at 17:24 was before time, it arrived at 18:03. That means Durnato might have affected the schedule of train like 17:16 Asangaon fast and 17:20 Kalyan Semifast from CSTM and 17:25 Kalyan Fast from DR, but it was well recovered as 17:24 Badlapur arrived before time. Thus, once in a week Duranto should not be a bother for Mumbai Suburban commuters as we in CR are habitauated to train running late by 3-5 minutes. The new MRVC locals have ensured that most of the times trains do catch up with the clock during its run, inspite of leaving late form the starting station.

An Unusual Day in the life of a Mumbai CR Commuter(23rd October 2009)

My day starts as early as 04:30 in the morning. I have to report to office based at Cuffe Parade, South Mumbai for a 07:30 -16:00 HRS shift. I went through the daily chores and left home at 05:35. Took a share auto and reached Dombivli Station. I knew I was getting late so ran across the FOB just to find the days’ 1st Fast local from Karjat to CSTM departing from platform no 5. It was leaving before time. Without wasting a second, rushed to catch the CSTM Slow local leaving from platform No 2. I managed to get into the Kalyan End First Class, settled down comfortably.

I had shifted to Dombivli only in the last year. For the 18 years previous to that I had been staying at Thane, so I was well versed with the timings of the Thane locals. I knew that the 5:59 DI-CSTM will arrive on platform no 4 on Thane at 6.21 and following it is a CSTM Fast starting from Thane at 6:25. I often got down from the Dombivli Local and caught this fast local from Thane. This local is a fast local only for namesake; it always trails the DI-CSTM right up to CSTM. Seldom does it crossover to the fast tracks as they are choc a bloc with Mail/Express traffic in the early morning. I love sitting at the window seat and observing parallel action with Siddheshwar/Vidharba/Matsyagandha Express depending upon their arrival into Mumbai section. I have often thought of complaining to CR via its SMS service about the trailing nature of this train. Most of the slow locals cover the 34 kms distance in 55-57 minutes. This 6:25 fast local takes almost the same time. Reached CSTM at 7:20 and took the BEST bus 138 to touch the office at 7:35am. Work was progressing smoothly, when my mom called up with the news of an ill-fated accident at Thane Kopri Bridge. I immediately called up CR IVRS 139 from my cellphone to know the latest on the fiasco. The IVRS was constantly mentioning about all lines being shut till further notice. I knew that I was many of those harried commuters marked for a long haul today.

I informed the HR Department about the news so that they could make arrangements for the second shift starting at 15:00 Hrs. Many of our employees come from places north of Thane. My reliever reached office by 15:30. He comes from GTB Nagar. He mentioned that his harbour line local was stuck between Masjid and CSTM for more than 20 minutes, finally after losing patience he walked down to CSTM to catch a cab and reach office. I left office at 16:30, took a BEST Bus 9 to CSTM, reached at 16:50 and found the place to be choc a bloc with commuters with no trains to go. There were announcements of CR trains plying only till Ghatkopar and Kurla. They also mentioned that commuters could take the Harbour line trains till Vashi free of cost and then take the Vashi-Thane locals. The PAS also mentioned about the special trains being run between Thane-Karjat and Thane-Kasara. The indicators at the platform 4 and 5 had trains for Dadar and Ghatkopar. These were of no use to me, so I decided to wait and watch. The harbour line trains were plying late by 5-10 minutes. I went and stood at the island platform between 2 and 3 as it was relatively less crowded as compared to platform 1 and island platform 1/2. I deliberately left a Vashi local, a Bandra local, and a Panvel local. 17:08 Belapur local was scheduled on platform no 2, as soon as the local entered CST, people started jumping into the compartments, so characteristic of us Mumbaikars. By the time the local came to a halt, all the seats were occupied and I managed to get a third seat from the window. The train left at 17:16 and by that time it was very crowded. The run from CST –Kurla(Harbour) was uneventful. At Kurla we had a load of people waiting to get in. It was pity to see even old people having endured the rush. I finally got down at Vashi at 18:03. I was surprised to see a train coming from Thane side on platform no 1 and the indicators were not mentioning Thane but CST. There were few people who were seated in the train and I asked them about the final destination of their local. “CST”, they said. Then, it dawned upon me that CR had started plying Thane-Vashi-CST locals. I must say, they did show some grit in implementing the same. Vashi is a familiar territory for me.

I decided to venture out. I love this place with its vast promenades in front of the station. Everything looks so organized here in the capital of Navi-Mumbai. There is enough place for everybody, even though it is surrounded by 3 huge malls in the vicinity. I decided to take a NMMT/KDMT bus to Dombivli from here. As soon as I came out of the station sub-way, the NMMT depot at the station was the place I was headed to. The Dombivli stop was invisible. It was swarmed by anxious commuters. There was no way; I could get any close to it. Then I saw a huge line of commuters encircling or spiralling the complete NMMT depot twice and then further extending into the walkways. To my utter disbelief, it was the line I was supposed to join. I resigned to my fate and decided to find the end of this line to wait for my turn. It felt as if Ganesh-utsav was on and I was trying to get a glimpse of the famous Lalbaugcha Raja. The line was never ending and after 10 minutes of scampering through the depot found the end of the line. I found that many commuters had decided to munch on something before they get into the bus as that was also going to equally arduous. Eating-options are aplenty in Vashi. I could see that many buses were being specially roped into run on this route. The line was moving at a snail’s pace. There was girl standing behind me in the line, who was continuously calling out my name on her cellphone. She was chit-chatting with her boyfriend, who incidentally shared my name. It was as if she was talking to me in chaste marathi. I was listening to all of their conversation for a few minutes, then felt my self-conscience finding me guilty and then avoided giving her an ear. I also overheard an old man asking his family members to have the dinner and go to bed as he was bound to catch the bus only by 12 midnight. He was very confident of catching the bus only by midnight. This made my rethink my decision of waiting for the bus in this never ending line. I decided to walk back to the station.

Sighting a Thane local scheduled on Platform 1, I scampered through the subway and timed by jump into the local as soon as it entered the platform and managed to secure a creditable second seat from the window. The Thane local left at 18:44. The EMU was never really picking up speed; it’s partly to do with the stations being close to each other and numerous curves on this section. We travelled at good speed only between Rabale and Airoli. The run from Airoli to Vitava RUB was equally good, and then started the super crawl. I also observed that we criss-cross the Thane-Belapur highway twice in a matter of few minutes, because of an almost horse shoe curve on this section. Finally touched down at battleground Thane at 19:30. The atmosphere here was completely bleak. It was slowly getting to me. My Vashi-Thane local was rechristened as CST (harbour). This was the first time when we were seeing CST (Harbour) leaving from Platform no 9 and 10/10A in Thane on a circuitous route. This would be a good option for all the commuters leaving in this belt. The railways should consider running such locals on a daily basis at an interval of 45- 60 minutes. It would be a real boon for these people. The EMU was berthed on platform no 9. I jumped over to the tracks of the underdeveloped platform no 8. Spotted 3102 Rajendra Nagar express stabled on platform no 7. There were no lights in the entire rake. The guard was sitting in the last coach in complete darkness. I pity this man. Only god knew, how many more hours did he have to put up in the guard van, before getting relieved. I took the Kalyan End FOB to reach Platform no 3 at Thane. The PAS was continuously alerting people of no trains being scheduled from platform 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The only trains that were running were on platform 9, 10 and platform no 3.

The station had become one huge refugee camp. There was no place for even sitting down on the floor of the platform. Being able to get down onto the platform no 3 was a commendable task in itself. A 0:00 EMU to Asangaon was scheduled. Do I need to elaborate more on the crowd situation in the train? The ladies coaches were equally bad. The only thing I could hear was war cries. For some unknown reason, the 12 car AC/DC emu was not making efforts to move out to its destination. It stayed on the platform for a painstaking 30 minutes. I decided to walk through the breadth of the platform and then possibly try to get into an EMU waiting at the Kalyan end at the Thane Far signal on the UP Slow line. The tracks were not visible compounded with the advent of night and the sea of harried commuters. I walked a few steps and then realized that there was no point in walking down the tracks as I never intended to sit in the compartment as it would become difficult to alight at Dombivli, so back tracked and reached Platform no 3 again. By now there were a good number of commuters perched atop the coaches too. I feared sighting a few electrocutions too. Finally, when the EMU moved, there was a loud clamor of “Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!” The sight on the last coach was to be seen to be believed. There were at least 5 people hanging on to the motorman’s door. There were people standing on the cow-catchers and dangling from the windshield. I was having second thoughts and rued the fact that if I had waited long enough at Vashi, I could have managed to catch a bus with relatively acceptable crowd. This was not the time for introspection. I readied myself to plunge into the next local that would arrive on the platform. I could manage to see the headlights of the EMU waiting to arrive on this platform. After another painstaking 15 minutes the train entered the platform with commuters already filled to the brim. With all my energy, I jumped into the train and luckily found a place to stand besides the door. Since the Dombivli had a double discharge platform no 1, I thought it would be wise to stand at the eastern side door as the only station I will have to encounter enroute would be the relatively calm Kopar, as compared to Kalva and Mumbra. This EMU was scheduled as 0:00 Hrs Karjat.

The desperate and now tiring crowd was making their last ditch efforts of getting into the Karjat EMU. Everyone was getting sandwiched. I was relatively safer from the push endured by others by being on the side of the door. I could hear all sorts of abuses being hurled by the unsuccessful ones to the ones inside the train. It was becoming increasing difficult to breathe. It could be easily sensed that the amount of oxygen would have dropped drastically inside the coach. All of us were sweating profusely. I had to bear the burden of 2 not so kind gentlemen on my new pair of sports shoes. Both my hands were locked high in the air. I could sense that my cell phone was continuously ringing, but I couldn’t bring my hands down to the pockets of my pant. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I finally managed to get it out of the pocket. There were people around me who were giving threatening stares for disturbing their equilibrium while doing so. It was my mom calling, who wanted to know about my whereabouts. She was hell-bent on knowing how I reached Thane as I had told her earlier that I will be catching a bus from Vashi. I had to explain her that I was not in a position to talk now and by talking into the phone I was actually irritating a lot of others. I didn’t dare putting the cell phone where it belonged as any attempt of doing would have met with a greater resistance. I held it in my hand above the head. There were no signs of the train departing. It was increasingly become difficult to stay put in the position I was in. My neck had almost twisted by 90 degrees to accommodate someone’s hand. I was praying for the train to start. Finally with a little jolt it started at sometime past 20:30 hrs. The journey from Thane to Dombivli consisted of many more pushes, screams and abuses. A few people were still cracking some PJs. I had no option, but to laugh at them. A group of youngsters who were at the door were pushing the crowd further in with the passing of each station enroute.

By the time, Dombivli arrived, I was completely drenched in sweat and the texture of everything I was wearing had become darker. It was a huge sigh of relief to finally alight. I stood there on platform 1 for a few seconds, trying to gasp some much needed fresh air. Then, I took the Kalyan end FOB to come out of the station on the east side. I didn’t want any more surprises so quietly took a share auto and reached home in 10 minutes. When I reached home, I was in no mood to entertain anything other than taking a nice cold shower and then gulping down all that mom had prepared for me. Its hard to not recollect the ad campaign across various television channels by ‘American Tourister’ which claims, “SURVIVE MUMBAI , SURVIVE THE WORLD”….so true…..