Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Rush Hour in Mumbai

Commuter recalls daily horror of overcrowded Mumbai local trains

Mumbai's local trains carry more than eight million people a day, a population of a small country.
They are also among the world’s most overcrowded trains and tourists are cautioned not to take them during peak hours.

Recently, it was so crowded one day, even a veteran daily commuter, Prem Tiwari, 29, could not catch a train. Instead, he took a video of the shocking crush, which went viral.

Tiwari, who works as a software engineer, has been taking trains for the last 15 years. Despite the long experience the daily horror has not diminished.

He spends five hours every day in the crowded trains to get to work and return. “It is so packed, people crush against my stomach and chest… It becomes hard to breath, he says.

A bigger challenge is to get into the train and then get out during the peak hours.

Nearly 4,500 passengers are packed into these trains during peak hours, as against a carrying capacity of 1,700.

The overcrowding, the jostling and the high-speed chase are a perfect recipe for accidents. More than 3,000 people lose their lives while commuting every year.

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