Killer Mumbai trains kill 40,000 in a decade

[Texan Eagle]

This article was published in an Indian newspaper yesterday

Killer Mumbai Local Trains Claimed 40,000 lives in 10 years

Sadly, the newspaper is not exaggerating. The number is true However, in spite of being written by a railfan correspondent (I know him personally), the tone of the article, like almost all train fatality articles, is such that it suggests the trains went out of their way to chase down 40,000 people and kill them while the fact is that 90% of these deaths are caused by passengers run over while walking across the tracks instead of using a bridge/underpass to go across platforms.

 

[DET63]

Sights and sounds of trains in Mumbai:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Jb-pYxb1e0I

 

[fairviewroad]

the fact is that 90% of these deaths are caused by passengers run over while walking across the tracks instead of using a bridge/underpass to go across platforms.

Are you sure about that? From my (admittedly limited) experience of riding the rails in India, I'd have guessed that far more deaths happen when passengers fall out of the sides of the train.

 

[jis]

Texas Eagle is correct on that one. I checked with my cousin in law who works for the Railway Board. People falling out of trains is less common than one would imagine seeing those dramatic photos of overloaded trains.

 

[Anderson]

Texas Eagle is correct on that one. I checked with my cousin in law who works for the Railway Board. People falling out of trains is less common than one would imagine seeing those dramatic photos of overloaded trains.

I suspect what is more common than folks falling out of those trains is folks falling off trains they were hanging onto or that they'd climbed on top of.

 

[jis]

Folks on heavily traveled corridors climbing on top of trains is exceedingly uncommon, since 25kV electrocution is a more likely outcome before falling off. Getting on the roof happens on rare occasions during festivals, and mostly on lesser traveled unelectrifies branch lines.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Texas Eagle is correct on that one. I checked with my cousin in law who works for the Railway Board. People falling out of trains is less common than one would imagine seeing those dramatic photos of overloaded trains.

I suspect what is more common than folks falling out of those trains is folks falling off trains they were hanging onto or that they'd climbed on top of.

Yes some people do fall off overcrowded trains while hanging to their dear life with one hand, half their bodies outside the train, and yes some morons do climb atop roofs in 25 kV AC electrified sections and atleast a couple of them have become instant grilled dish by electrocution but the major problem on Mumbai's suburban system is trespassing. Impatient commuters carelessly run across tracks to go from one platform to another or just to cross tracks to go to the other side of the town in a section that sees a train every three minutes and there are anywhere between four to seven parallel tracks all along the length of the city making it difficult to judge if the train is rushing towards you on which track. Numerous attempts by the railway authorities to educate the people to use bridges or underpasses have fallen on deaf ears. They have even erected fences between tracks to discourage track-crossers but the overenthusiastic ones take the efforts of climbing over the fences instead of climbing stairs on the bridges. I was a daily traveler on Mumbai's suburban system for six years and I have seen at least on three occasions live runovers and the mutilation caused to human body on being hit by a train is a very very unpleasant sight to see, for the passengers and also for the engineers who have to clear the body out from the right of way before the train is allowed to proceed further.

 

[jis]

Trespassing is a very serious problem all over India, not just in Mumbai. I am actually pleasantly amazed that many more fatalities do not take place, even though the current numbers are staggering in and off themselves. Over the last week or so I have been traveling around the Kolkata Subirban system observing the shenanigans of trespassers among other things. Will post a trip report when I get back stateside on Monday.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

It is quite stunning to sit at New Delhi station and hear a platform change announcement... a surge of passengers directly off the platform, carrying huge suitcases, boxes, children, across the tracks, and climb up opposite!

It was often reported in the newspapers on my recent trip that the rail authorities offer compensation and sometimes employment to families of those killed in railway accidents... train crews often abscond in serious accidents out of fear of public anger being directed against them.

In all my three weeks of travel I never saw one train with anyone on the roof, although I enjoyed hanging out the doors to take photos, myself!

Ed

 

[Texan Eagle]

In all my three weeks of travel I never saw one train with anyone on the roof, although I enjoyed hanging out the doors to take photos, myself!

Ed

It is a good thing to know rooftop monkeys have disappeared. I believe a couple of videos of folks getting electrocuted to death atop a train (like this one Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised) going viral on YouTube and Facebook in recent months might have contributed to fall in enthusiasm of the youngsters for rooftop travel. One might think that rooftop travelers are ignorant illiterate folks, so how would a YouTube video reach them, but we must not forget as of today India has over 600 million mobile subscribers and around 42 million Facebook users, so it is possible that social media had some effect on passenger behavior.