The Shameful Reality of Mumbai Local Trains | India's Deadliest Train | Honest Take With Tejas - video Dailymotion

Lokmat

Watch The Shameful Reality of Mumbai Local Trains | India's Deadliest Train | Honest Take With Tejas - Lokmat on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Saffar mein dhoop to ho gi, jo chal sakho ta chalo, sabhi hai bheed mein, tum bhi nikal sakho ta chalo.

00:20This Nidha Fadli share translates to, there will be sunshine on the journey.

00:25If you can walk, then walk.

00:27Everyone is stuck in the crowd.

00:28If you can break free, then break free.

00:32But what if you can't break free?

00:33What if you are one of the millions who has no option but to step into that crowd every

00:38morning, into a metal box called the Mumbai Local.

00:41Let me tell you something personal.

00:43I once used to travel from Badlapur to CST during rush hour, for at least two years.

00:49And I still remember the suffocation.

00:51I remember holding the bar above my head while my feet barely touched the floor.

00:55I remember people gasping for breath.

00:58I remember the stifling sweat.

01:00The panic.

01:01I remember watching a man nearly fall.

01:03And I remember thinking almost on daily basis.

01:06This isn't travel.

01:07This is punishment.

01:08After those two years of commuting, I swore to never take the local train again.

01:14And thanks to privilege, I could afford that choice.

01:17But millions of Mumbaikers cannot.

01:19They face this torture every single day.

01:22And the truth is, they are treated worse than cattle.

01:25This is your honest take with me Tejas, where we don't do headlines for TRPs.

01:29We ask questions no one in power wants to answer.

01:33So today's question, why are Mumbai's commuters treated worse than cattle?

01:38But before we dive in, subscribe to the channel and hit that bell icon.

01:42Because here, we don't sell hope.

01:44We speak truth, no matter how uncomfortable.

01:47So let's talk facts.

01:48As per the Indian Railway's Cattle Transport Rules 1978, each cow, buffalo or horse weighing

01:54up to 200 kg is entitled to 1 square meter of space.

01:59That is 10.76 square feet per animal.

02:02Now cut to Mumbai locals.

02:03During peak hours, a coach made for 200 passengers carries over 600.

02:08That is three times the capacity.

02:10No place to sit.

02:11No place to stand.

02:12No place to breathe.

02:13So ironically, even livestock get more dignity on Indian Railways than human commuters.

02:18Are Mumbai cars worse than cattle?

02:20They aren't passengers anymore.

02:22They are payload, herded in, packed tight, struggling not to fall, not to die.

02:27And that is not an exaggeration.

02:28It is reality.

02:29On June 9th, 2025, just a few days ago, a horrifying incident unfolded near Mumra and Kalwa.

02:36Two overcrowded trains passed each other on a curb.

02:39Trains tilted.

02:40Passengers hanging from footboards collided.

02:43Four men died.

02:44Many were injured.

02:45Some critically.

02:46Ketan Dilip Saroj, 23 year old.

02:48Rahul Santosh Gupta, 27 year old.

02:50Vicky Babasaheb Mukhya, 34 years old.

02:53And Mayur Shah, 44 year old.

02:55They did not commit a crime.

02:56They were simply going to work.

02:58But in this city, that's dangerous enough to kill you.

03:01So what does the government do?

03:02They don't fix the route problem.

03:04They throw us band-aid solutions and call it modernization.

03:08Let's add automatic doors.

03:10Let's make all trains AC.

03:12Sounds fancy, right?

03:13It's a joke.

03:14Ever seen a crowd at Dombivli, Kalyan or Thane trying to enter an AC local?

03:19People are pushed in from the outside, literally.

03:22So that the automatic doors can shut.

03:24And if you don't get shoved in in time, the train leaves.

03:28Or worse, the door closes on you.

03:30AC trains carry few passengers.

03:32Tickets are more expensive.

03:33And for lakhs of daily wage workers and middle class commuters, that's not a solution.

03:39It's exclusion.

03:40You want to stop this madness?

03:42Here is what we need.

03:43More trains.

03:44More frequency.

03:45More coaches.

03:46If 600 people are crammed into a 200-seater, that's a clear sign.

03:50Add more trains.

03:52Track slewing on curves.

03:54Why did those four men die near Mumra?

03:56Because two fast trains passed on a dangerously narrow curve.

03:59Shift the tracks.

04:00Make space.

04:01Save lives.

04:02Staggered work timings.

04:04Make offices open in phases.

04:06Why must the entire city travel between 8 and 10 am?

04:09Stretch the clock.

04:10Flatten the rush.

04:12Shift government offices out of central business districts.

04:15Why is half of the city still rushing to Nariman Point and BKC every day?

04:19Shift them to Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Panvel.

04:22Decentralize.

04:23The private sector already did it.

04:26Why is the government lagging?

04:27But you know what the saddest part is?

04:29We have gotten used to this.

04:31We read about a death in the paper and flip the page.

04:34We see a body on the tracks and say,

04:36Oh, another one.

04:38This isn't normal.

04:39Imagine this.

04:40You say goodbye to your brother in the morning

04:42and get a call by noon that he fell off a train.

04:46That he is gone.

04:47That he just slipped from a footboard.

04:50This isn't an accident.

04:51This is administrative murder.

04:53And if we don't raise our voices,

04:55if we keep swallowing this cruelty like it's a part of the deal,

04:58then we are all complicit.

05:00No more excuses.

05:01No more PR press conferences.

05:03No more pilot projects with buttons and doors and buzzwords.

05:07What we need is space, safety, dignity, humanity.

05:11Because we are not cattle.

05:13We are not weight to be measured.

05:15We are not a burden on your balance sheet.

05:17We are citizens.

05:19And if the price of a daily commute is death,

05:22then Mumbai's lifeline has already failed.

05:25This was honest take with me, Tejas.

05:27If you have ever been crushed in a crowd,

05:29if you have ever gasped for air on a packed train,

05:32if you have ever watched someone fall and could not forget it,

05:36then speak up.

05:37Share this.

05:38Demand better.

05:39Because Mumbai deserves more than this.

05:42And Mumbai curse deserve to live.

05:44That's all for now.

05:45Until next time, stay sharp, stay curious,

05:47and never stop asking tough questions.

The Shameful Reality of Mumbai Local Trains | India's Deadliest Train | Honest Take With Tejas

Category

Transcript

Recommended