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Specialization is for Insects.
Posted on Sep 09, 2007 - 12:50am by John P. in Travel, Videos
I’ve ridden trains across Europe and been on subways in London, New York, Athens, and many other places. But I’ve never, never seen anything like the trains in Mumbai, India. You couldn’t pay me to get on one of those death traps – not like it’s even possible to physically get on one.
The first thing you notice is that the doors don’t close. There is a rational reason for this apparant lack of safety feature. People are hanging out of them!
You may also notice that there is a “First Class” car – whatever that means… and that there are seperate cabins for men and women. Presumably to protect the Women from perverts. Of course, I guess it would be impossible to protect yourself from a pickpocket. But that’s a whole other story.
Considering that Mumbai is the fifth most populous metropolitan area on earth, and with an average annual income of around $10,000, I guess we should expect transportation to look like this. But it is still shocking to people who don’t have to live this way.
EDIT – Here is a bonus video found by our buddy WebUrbanist of a similar overcrowding situation in Japan.
You’d think that after this phenomenon had gone on for a while they’d just add handlebars or some other device on the outsie of the train – sure it’s ad hoc, but it would be safer :/
Here’s another one: check out how the official has to push the guy into the train car with his whole body lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJKbLvU5kQM
omg thats crazy! do woman have separate trains or do they have to go through this also? what about handicaps?? i see “Reserved for handicap” sign but that thing is full…
A lot of different public transportation videos this week I see. Will you continue on this theme the following days as well?
Adam,
That is a funny observation. But you’re right. I think I need to start having “Theme weeks” and try to tie some of the articles together. However, it was just at random that we happen to have the kids who travel by cable immediately before the travel by train in Mumbai article. :-)
John
Although you people feel its crazy, its quite normal here and its a part of their everyday life.
However, it is very unsafe but this is the fastest means of transport here since the roads are so choked up all the time.
$10,000 average income per annum sounds extremely high for India, I think its around $1000 per annum here in the Philippines.
We have the local transportation here called Jeepneys, they are rebuilt jeeps which ply routes around cities, towns and provinces. They are often horribly overfilled and passengers include goats, chicken and pigs…
Kim:)
Although the $10k income seems high, Mumbai is the wealthiest city in India. Certainly in other cities they aren’t doing so well…
John
It’s remarkable to realize how rich the average American can be with their “average” 30-40-50k salary compared to those in other nations..
LOL so funny, yet amazing. I find it incredible the way some cultures and countries have such different views and regulations regarding health and safety.
I was born & lived in india for 19 years before i left india and emigrated overseas. 2 years ago, I want to india after about 9 years. I always felt that because i was born and raised in India, I would be still be comfortable traveling in trains and stuff. But i was SO WRONG!. I decided to go to bombay and travel by train. when i went to the platform, There were so many people trying to get on board an already over crowded train that i decided not to even give it a try. It just not for me any more
Its really sad but its true and we living in Mumbai can’t help it.There are deaths happening becz of these overcrowded trains quite often but it still holds true that its the fastest and the cheapest mode to travel out here in mumbai.
I have heard that govt are in plans of getting things in order real soon and i just hope with my fingers crossed that they do it real soon
Abhishek
Oh my gosh, that is unbelievable! I had to google ‘death by train mumbai india’ and see if I could find some number – CNN says that 4,000 people die every year as a result of the trains!
550 people cram into a car made for 200! And deaths are so common, that the stations actually stock sheets for covering the dead!
In the first four months of this year alone, 1200 people have been killed!
Good heavens! I would imagine the city in Japan would be somewhat similar, although not quite as high, because, their doors actually close! But, I suppose that could lead to more suffocation…
Oh my gosh – that’s awful! 4,000 people per year die because of these trains! In the first four months of 2007, 1200 people were already killed!
And the stations actually stock sheets to cover the dead, it is such a common occurrence!
Hi,
I was born in Mumbai and brought up here. I have traveled these local trains in the most peak traffic conditions. In fact, I was in one today.
Actually, it is not as bad as one might think. I do not want to make light of the 4000 deaths a year. But, it comes from over 584000000 journeys a year. Death should never be treated as a statistic, but local train travel in Mumbai, India is a fairly safe way to travel.
In response to another question, no there aren’t women’s special trains (actually there is one in the morning and one in the evening), but all trains have special women’s-only compartments. In fact, though women are allowed in all compartments, men are not allowed in the women’s-only compartments.
BTW, I have been traveling these trains since school days, as do thousands of others. My parents did not think it was dangerous!
Yes, certainly not a good scene to watch, i live near Mumbai and visit the city maybe thrice in a year, and looking live what one sees in the video, the heart feels the pain. But this is, the way it is. People have to travel in such conditions just to survive.
Imagine, every day, traveling in these conditions about 1 and a half hours of this travel to work, and after long day work, one and half hours (average) of the journey back home. As John P. states, ” You couldn’t pay me to get on one of those death traps ” perhaps it is not that death traps as Ajeet Khurana states. Sure it is not a desired way to travel every day for survival.
On the other note, people have got so used to it Ajeet Khurana’s reply just shows that.
I liked the handicap sign on one car. I’d like to see how they react to a guy rolling up in wheelchair, toss him on the roof?
If Mumbai, India has soo much commerce that it can’t afford to built enough trains to get the population to work? Why doesn’t private business take over that task? After all many companies send work from other parts of the world to India, least some business could do would be getting more people to work faster safer … just a thought