Mumbai Transport & other facts

Flash Mob at CST Railway Station

Mumbai City Mobile Applications

M-indicator is mobile Application used by many to check train, bus, taxi service  , smart cards are used to swipe & purchase tickets on local train stations. Local trains are fitted with computers to avoid accidents. Indian Railways e-ticketing allows ticket booking and real time tracking of train moments. Also there is mobile application to check city  traffic.

Mumbai Railways- Local Train Distance

·    Churchgate-Borivali 34km= 25miles (same as B’ham Coventry)- every 3 minute

·    Churchgate- Virar 60km= 40miles (same as B’ham Leicester)- every 5 minute

·    Churchgate-Dhanu 124km= 77miles (more than B’ham Nottingham 84km= 52miles)- every 30 minute,

·    Mumbai Central Railways was built by the British in 1853, first train was from Victoria Terminus to Thane 34km (21 miles). And Western railway from Colaba in 1856. First steam train in India. Electification happen in 1910 onwards.

·    In 1900, 45 trains of Western Railway in each direction were carrying over one million passengers annually.

·    Mumbai Railway carries 7 million passenger every day which is more than population of 124 countries of 223 countries of world. (1 million ladies)

·    1928 The first electric train runs between Churchgate and Borivali.

·    Each direction trains run 124km, 75 miles plus (in 3 directions and carries 7 million passengers). Around 115 stations spread over 465 km (300 miles) in 3 directions. 2342 train operate from 4 am to 1 am = every 6 minutes average on each line.

·    Trains operate as Slow and Fast trains (limited stops) as well as Ladies only special in peak office going hours

·    A 12-car train can seat 1,168 and 2,336 standees that is a total of 3,504, in 2009 few 15 compartment trains introduced.

·    Maximum fare for distance- second class 50 pence, Monthly pass £4, First class £2 and Monthly pass £15

·    80% of population use public transport.  There are dedicated ladies compartments on every train. Refer to train by time as 8.30 or 8.42 train referring to time it leaves any specific station. Even if arrives late it will show the time it suppose to be on board as reference point. People mention time of train to refer to specific train.
     Trains are fitted with computers to avoid collusion. 

·    Mumbai Suburban Railway employs 1.5 million people

·    Yearly more than 3,500 people die on the railway track due to unsafe riding on trains or trespassing or suicides- (10 daily)

·    Platforms act as shelters for run away kids, next to tracks space is used by poor families to build slums

·    Literally outside every railway station there is local market, some big some small. Hawkers sell on train,

Mumbai Mono Rail (Elevated) connecting Chember to Saat Rasta. MMRDA have developed Monorail.

Mumbai Metro have started to ease traffic and connect east and west localities of cities, as trains run north to south. More metro routes are under consideration. www.mumbai-metro.com, www.mumbaimetroone.com,  

Metro Rail in India with air conditioned compartments have started in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai. Bangalore and Jaipur, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Indore, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Nasik, Patna, Pune, Surat, Guwahati are under construction, Malls are often situated near Metro stations like MG road in Gurgaon, Delhi and similar in other cities too).

Taxis- Black & Yellow cabs arrived in 1911 to complement horse wagons. There are about 75,000 taxis registered to operate by meter in Greater Mumbai. 7 mile journey would cost £3. (www.bookmycab.com) 022 61234567. AC Blue colour Cool cabs also operate on meter and cost more. (www.citycoolcab.in). 

App based & Radio cab services have been introduced by some private companies. These taxis are brand new air-conditioned cars fitted with GPS and electronic metres. These taxis need to be booked in advance by calling their callcentre number. The total number of fleet taxis in is 6,000. Meru Cabs has fleet of 2,500 vehicles in Mumbai but its nearest competitor, TabCab has fleet of 2,500 taxis. Meru- www.merucabs.com, (022) 44 22 44 22, Tabcab- www.tabcab.in (022) 6363 6363, Uber Cabs, Ola- www.olacabs.com  (022) 3355 3355 also do hourly rentals and outstation bookings.

For City and Outstation trips, car with driver/ Tourist Taxis: Cars with Tourist licence to operate in city and outstation. Avis Outstation  Mobivoyage, Ecorentacar, Comfort Travel, Carsonrent, Fred travels, Carjee, Sudarshan cars, Milan Travels, Savaari, 

• Full day city travel example: Rs 3000 per day with driver for 8 hours or 80 km, additional km would be @ Rs 17 per km.
• Outstation example for 6 seater, full day (6 am to 11 pm) with driver and fuel will cost Rs 4,250 plus GST @ 5%, (250km x Rs 17 per day. Additional km @ Rs 17 per km. If overnight stay, driver allowance Rs 400. Toll charges and parking fees at cost.  

Luxury car rental: Super Luxury car rental, Kings of car hire, Luxury Limo, Antaeusindia, 

Self Drive car hire: Zoomcar, Mychoize, Drivezy, Avis, Selfdrive, Momondo, 

Auto rickshaws started for masses in 1985. There are total 246,458 auto rickshaws in Mumbai. Auto rickshaws do not operate in South Mumbai. All auto rickshaws use CNG

Mumbai Buses: Bombay Tramway Company was set up in 1873 at Colonial time under Bombay Presidency by British. Trams were drawn by one or two horses. 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. double decker trams were introduced in September, 1920. Bombay saw its first bus run in 1926 between Afghan Church and Crawford Market. Double deck buses were introduced in 1937.

There are 4,000 buses carrying half million passengers daily on 335 fixed routes from early morning to late night. 7 miles journey cost 30 pence. There are dedicated seats for ladies, elderly & disabled in buses. Buses , Taxis and Auto rickshaws use CNG as the fuel

Cars registered 1,877,000. Most cars are manufactured here and exported too. There are show rooms for most makes, even of Bentley and Ferrari too. Also Jaguar and Land Rover which is owned by TATA. Even Porsche has showroom in Mumbai, Car dealers in Mumbai,   Rolls Royce, Porsche, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi, Mercedes and most other manufacturers have their showrooms in Mumbai.       

Driving Licence & Car purchase: AA International driving licence is valid in India. There are many driving schools who could assist in getting local provisional licence and full driving licence from transport office where local driving test is necessary. All types of new or second hand cars can be purchased. There are many new Car dealers and pre-owned car dealers and internet sites such as www.carwale.com, www.gaadi.com, www.cardekho.com. There is no annual tax on car or annual inspection of car. One has to service as appropriate. There are many online insurance companies. 

scooters and bikes- 1,100,000 registered. Royal Enfield, Harley davidson, Bikewala..

Mumbai Roads were widened and some road side encroachments are re-housed to make traffic move. 55 flyovers were built on Eastern and Western expressway. Some are over 3km long. Mumbai has excellent mode of travelling. May it be Auto Rickshaw, BEST bus, local trains or Taxi you find them every time, everywhere, including AC buses on selective routes & AC taxis too.

Think Local: sometimes bread earner has to travel daily on 90 minutes journey of 124km (max), Most people stay in own areas as all areas are self sufficient, lively and buzzing also travelling can be a problem in peak hours

--------------------------------------------------------