Within First Six Months Of 2021, 760 People Killed On Mumbai's Suburban Railway Tracks: Report

Almost 760 people have lost their lives on the tracks of Mumbai's overcrowded suburban railway system in just six months between 1 January and 30 June of 2021.

This number translates to four persons dying per day on the railway tracks of Maharashtra's capital. It must be noted that so many deaths had occurred when Mumbai's local trains were not open for the general public.

According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), 490 people died while crossing the railway line among the victims in these six months.

"Most of the accidental deaths took place when people tried to take shortcuts by crossing the railway line thinking the frequency of trains has reduced due to COVID pandemic," officials said, reports Times Now.

The over congestion in Mumbai suburban railway has a tremendous human cost. Every year, thousands of human lives are lost during track crossing or falling off from the over-congested rakes.

The suburban railway system of Mumbai is India's second-largest such network in terms of route length after Kolkata.

The suburban railway system in Mumbai is the most complex, densely loaded and intensively utilised system in the world.

Two zonal Railways — Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR) — operate the Mumbai Suburban Railway System.

Spread over 390 route kilometres, it operates 2,342 train services and carried an incredible 80 lakh commuters every day before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.