Motorwoman to run 15-car Churchgate-Virar train

Priti Kumari, all of 34, will soon drive one of the 15-coach trains from Churchgate to Virar. Read more about this news here - Motorwoman to run 15-car train
Source: DNA

Harbour Line mega block timings - 16th January

The Harbour Line mega block timings for Sunday, 16th January are as follows:

Local train services cancelled -
CST to Kurla: 11 am to 4 pm
Vadala Road to Bandra:  11 am to 4 pm
Bandra to Vadala Road11 am to 4 pm

Trains leaving from CST to Vashi / Belapur / Panvel between 10.39 am and 3.53 pm will run on the Main Central Line up to Kurla station and will then be diverted to the normal Harbour route. These trains will not stop at Chinchpokli and Currey Road.

Local train services cancelled - 
CST to Bandra / Andheri: 10.47 am to 4.03 pm
Bandra / Andheri to CST: 10.41 am to 3.48 pm


Source: TOI

Mega block on Central Line - Saturday / Sunday

This week, the Sunday waala mega block on the Central Line begins at 11 pm on Saturday, January 15.
Here are the mega block timings:

TRAINS CANCELLED ON 15TH JANUARY, 2011
CST to Thane: 11.05 pm, 11.16 pm and 11.24 pm

Kalyan to CST: 9.52 pm
Dombivli to CST: 9.59 pm
Thane to CST: 9.59 pm

Also, CST to Thane train leaving CST station at 10.53 pm will run up to Kurla

TRAINS CANCELLED FROM 15TH - 16TH JANUARY, 2011
No local trains will run on the fast line between Vidyavihar and Mulund stations from 11 pm on Saturday, 15th January to 4 pm on Sunday, 16th January.

Travelling on train's rooftop causes death

Today (12th January 2011), a 25-year-old Mumbai local train commuter Murari Abhiram Chaudhari, got on to the roof of a crowded 8:32am Virar-Borivli train at Nallasopara station. In no time, he was electrocuted.

Worst still, his burning body remained on the roof since nothing could be done to save him until the power supply was stopped.

My deepest condolences to his family.

Again, I urge you all to stop getting on to the rooftops of local trains. It is seriously FATAL.

Don't forget that the lines are using 25,000 volts of alternating current. So earlier electrocution could happens on touching the wires. But now even if you are within 2 metres of the overhead wires, you will be pulled then you know what happens.

News source

Guest Article: Music On Rails

Here's a guest article by my dear friend Keyur Seta. Check out his interesting train experience:

I have heard people say that music has no language although I always doubted it. In 2001, when I boarded a train for Jaipur from Mumbai Central station, I didn’t have an iota of idea that I would start believing in the saying. Many a times some pleasant experiences have happened with me in the most unexpected situations. This was one such instance.

When our train entered the territory of Rajasthan, I was all excited and eager to reach Jaipur. Just an hour or so before reaching the final destination, an usual sound startled me when I was busy appreciating nature during the journey. Initially it irritated me as I don’t like being disturbed when my eyes are fixed outside the window during a train journey. I saw it was some small time performer playing a musical instrument in order to raise money (I will never call him a beggar).

After half a minute of or so, I realized I started liking the sound. Then came the big splash! The man playing the musical instrument started singing. Within seconds my whole attention was hooked onto him as I was damn impressed by his voice and style.

The passion with which he sang, the pain and anguish in his voice, his dedication, all sent me in a musical trance from which I didn’t want to return. It was that kind of satisfaction which one experiences at a concert after paying a hefty amount for the ticket. But here it was, all for free. Well, not quite. I didn’t like enjoying the experience for free. I paid him before he even asked for it.

But in all this, where does the phrase ‘music has no language’ fit in? It does fit in for the man was singing in Rajasthani language. Because of this, I hardly understood his song or its meaning. But still, it produced one of the most long lasting and impressive effects on my mind. Hence, I started believing that music has no language. It all happened in a totally unexpected situation. Such is the magic of Indian Railways where almost every journey becomes memorable!

Lying in crowded trains

So what if sitting or standing is almost impossible in crowded local trains. Lying is surely possible!

Now we are well aware of the 'loudspeakers' in trains . All right, speaking loudly to fellow passengers during the act of pushing, hurting, hitting, seat sharing, hair combing, littering, elbowing... is something we are used to. But there are certain 'loudspeakers' that make all of us smile in unison. The liars!

So how many times have you come across such situations in trains:
  1. Woman loudly complaining on the phone as a CST bound train crosses Vashi station: Where have you been? I reached Wadala an hour ago. Since you had not reached, I was on my way back and have already reached Chembur. Will return in 30 minutes!
  2. Woman screaming when the train reached Mahim station: Yeah yeah, I am at Dadar only. Cant see you.... Oh may be I am on the other bridge... will call you back.
  3. Man politely explaining to wife over the phone while boarding a Virar fast from Bandra: Arre I could not board a Virar fast. I had to take a Borivali slow. Now I went to another platform at Borivali to take a Virar train, but there is no train for the last 15 minutes.
  4. THE BEST ONE: Damn, there's so much traffic!