Public transport in Mumbai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Public Transport in Mumbai involves the transport of millions of its citizens by train, road and water. Over 88% of the commuters in Mumbai prefer to use public transport (suburban trains or buses) since it is most convenient, efficient, cheap and punctual.
Mumbai's public transport primarily comprises of:
- Public Bus Service (BEST):
- This system is run by a government organization Bombay Electric Supply & Transport. It has a fleet of red single and double-decker buses. There are newly introduced air conditioned buses as well.
- Suburban Electric Trains: Local Railway Lines
- Western Railway running between Churchgate and Virar.
- Central Railway running between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Bombay V.T.) and Karjat.
- Harbour Line running between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Bombay V.T.) and Mankhurd. This railway line has now been extended to Navi Mumbai.
- Public Taxi/Autorickshaw Services:
- Waterway Services:
- Hovercraft services connect Vashi, in Navi Mumbai to the Gateway of India. On the West, this service links Chowpatty to Juhu.
- Ferry services are available to visit Elephanta Caves and to nearby places such as Alibaug, Rewas and Mandwa.
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[edit] The History of Mumbai's Public Transport
Further information: Bombay Electric Supply and Transport
[edit] Before 1920
The Bombay Tramway Company Limited was formally set up in 1873. After a contract was entered into between the Bombay Tramway Company and the municipality, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service in the city. The tram-cars were of two kinds—those drawn by one horse and those drawn by two. In 1905, a newly formed concern, The Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company Limited, bought the Bombay Tramway Company and the first electrically operated tram-car appeared on Bombay's roads in 1907. The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour traffic and to ease the situation, double decker trams were introduced in September, 1920.
[edit] 1920-1940
Bombay saw its first bus run on 15 July 1926 between Afgan Church and Crawford Market. The people of Bombay received the bus with enthusiasm, but it took quite some time before this means of conveyance really established itself. For several years, it was looked upon as transport for the upper middle class. Those were the days when the tram was the poor man's transport; it carried one all the way from Sassoon Dock to Dadar for a mere anna and a half, that was nine paise. The bus fare for the same journey was four annas, that is 25 paise.
In response to the pleas made by the Government and the Bombay Municipal Corporation, the Company extended its services to the northern part of the city in 1934. Double deck buses were introduced in 1937 in order to cope better with the growing traffic. The first Limited Bus service in Bombay, and probably the first in the country as well, started running in 1940 between Colaba and Mahim.
[edit] Post 1940
Pursuant to the option given to it under the Deed of Concession granted to the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramways Co.Ltd, the Bombay Municipal Corporation acquired on 7 August 1947, the assets of the combined Undertaking, namely the operation of tramways and distribution of electricity in the city of Bombay as a going concern. By mutual agreement, the Corporation also took over the operation of the bus services, which was run by the B.E.S. & T. Company Ltd.
Thus, the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Company was municipalised and came to be known as Bombay Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking.
When the Corporation took over the Company in 1947, there were 242 buses in operation on 23 routes and these buses carried 2.38 lakh passengers per day. At present, there are 3380 buses carrying 45 lakhs passengers daily on 335 routes. With the change in the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai, the organisation is now known as The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking.
The B.E.S.T. buses run every five to 30 minutes. All these buses carry their route numbers on their front. The final destination is marked in the front in Marathi and on the side in English.
- BEST has introduced semi deluxe and Air-conditioned services on certain routes.
- From 19th November 2004, Route Special 8 plying from Churchgate to World Trade Centre started accepting cashless smart cards for Automatic Fare Collection in BEST buses.
- BEST has 230+ environment friendly CNG buses on its fleet and is planning to increase these buses.
- On August 18,2005, BEST introduced the first lot of disabled-friendly buses(five buses with special wheel chair-accessible low floors) into its service.
- In view of 7/11 bombings, BEST is planning to install an audio-visual surveillance system on each of its buses by December 2006 to monitor suspicious behaviour aboard its vehicles.
[edit] Railway network
The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest in Asia, it was founded in 1847. It is owned by Indian Railways and is operated by Western Railways and Central Railways. With a length of 303 km, it claims to have the highest passenger density in the world, 6.1 million people daily. It has three lines: the Western Line, the Central Line, and the Harbour Line.
These suburban trains are popularly known as Locals and they run from 4 AM till 1 AM. Mumbai suburban services have various such designations (not all of them official, but in wide use). A 'fast' train or 'fast local' is essentially one that is fast (runs express, skipping stops) until a certain station, and from that station onwards runs like a local, e.g., the Virar Fast runs express to Borivli, and then from there on is a local. The Karjat Fast is an express until Kalyan. The Ambarnath Fast Local goes CSTM - Dadar - Thane and thereafter stops at all stations on its route. The Borivli Fast Local used to run (1980s) from Jogeshwari to Bombay Central non-stop.
The term 'superfast local' is sometimes used too, e.g., for trains that skip stations to reach Virar early in the down direction so they are available earlier to carry more passengers in the up direction later. On WR (Western Railway) lines, the term 'fast' train is often applied to one that runs as an express until Bandra or Andheri. A 'double-fast' is one that runs as an express for an even longer stretch compared to the 'fast' services.
On CR (Central Railway) lines, the term 'fast' train is often applied to any train that runs as an express to Kalyan, or until its terminus. There used to be a Kalyan Fast that ran non-stop from Ghatkopar to Bombay VT (now CST). The term 'semi-fast' is sometimes applied to trains that run express until Thane. The term 'bada-fast' (Hindi 'bada'= big) was used for services running express between Borivli - Bandra - Marine Lines, and is sometimes synonymous with 'double-fast'. The term 'triple-fast' has been reported (from a long time back) for express services between Dahisar and Marine Lines.
In year 1992, Mumbai's WR and CR introduced 'Ladies Special' trains. A 'Complete Ladies Special' train has all its coaches reserved for women passengers. A 'Semi-Ladies Special' is a train with a few (e.g., 3) coaches reserved for women. These designations can be combined with 'fast', 'slow', etc., so you have terms such as 'Slow Complete Ladies Special', 'Semi-Fast Semi-Ladies', etc.
[edit] Metro
- Further information: Mumbai Metro
[edit] Taxis
The Taxis arrived in 1911 to compliment horse wagons. The black and yellow Fiat taxis in Mumbai, are integral part of the city's heritage and have been depicted in numerous Bollywood movies. These metered taxis ply throughout Mumbai and have monopoly from Bandra to Churchgate on the Western line and Sion to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus on the Central line. Beyond Sion and Bandra auto rickshaws are not allowed and one has to hire a taxi. However between Sion to Thane and Bandra to Bhayader, Taxis and autorickshaws ply. A mechnical meter decides the fare and is proportional to the distance traveled.
Number of taxis (cabs): About 30,000-45,000.
From October /November 2006, new white/yellow cabs will start replacing the older black and yellow taxis on the Mumbai streets. Reasonably good health black and yellow taxis will still be on the road. The new white/yellow taxis will be air conditioned and fitted with GPS, cordless phones and electronic meters with printers. These new taxis will charge a little extra than the traditional black and yellow taxis because of the luxury frills.
[edit] Auto rickshaws
Auto Rickshaws are three-wheeler scooters, which can accommodate three people. Apart from Buses, Trains and Taxis, Autorickshaws play an important role of public transport in Mumbai. As per the new ruiling of the Mumbai High Court, all autorickshaws use CNG as the fuel. Autorickhaws are not permitted to enter the suburbs beyound Sion and Bandra in South Mumbai. Autorickshaws registed in Mumbai are not allowed travel beyond the muncipal limits of Mumbai. They have been allowed to ply between Sion to Mulund on the route of Central Railway and upto Mankhurd on the Harbour line. People who wish to travel beyond Mumbai to suburbs like Vashi, Airoli have to catch another rickshaw. On the western railwyas route they are allowed to ply between Bandra and Bhayander only.
A mechnical meter decides the fare and is proportional to distance travelled.
[edit] Terror attacks
- Seven blasts rocked the Western Railways of Mumbai on 11-July-2006 during evening rush hour. The blasts targeted first-class compartments of WR trains at Mira-Bayandhar, Jogeshwari, Mahim, Santacruz, Khar, Matunga and Borivali.
- Further information: 11_July_2006_Mumbai_train_bombings
- On 13 March 2003, 11 people were killed and 65 wounded in a bomb blast on a ladies special train during rush hour. The blasts occurred on two carriages, a general and a first class ladies, of a Karjat-bound local train, while it was pulling into the platform at Mulund.
- On January 28, 2003, 30 people were wounded in a bicycle bombing near the Vile Parle railway station.
- On December 2, 2002, two people were killed and 31 wounded in a blast at a fast food plaza at a Ghatkopar railway station. Only 4 days later after this blast,another bomb exploded at the Mumbai Central railway station injuring 25 persons
- In August 2003, twin car bombings at a busy bazaar killed 46 people and wounded more than 160.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
↑ Mumbai Urban Transport Project
