Commuters resigned to travelling on the edge

THANE: Mansi Bhosekar is a veteran of suburban trains. For the last 12 years, the HR professional has been travelling between her home in Kalyan and Mumbai, the protracted journey building in her an inurement to the crowds, the delays and the discomfort.
"Earlier, I would panic trying to squeeze into a packed compartment or dealing with delays. Today, I am absolutely casual about it," Bhosekar said."I am resigned to standing on the footrest. In these last 12 years, not once have I got to sit and travel in comfort. I began commuting on the footrest during my college days and it continues to this day."
To an outsider this may sound like a hyperbole, but for the lakhs of commuters from Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar townships, Bhosekar's statement is as matter-of-fact as they come. For long, they have been travelling on the edge and suffering in silence.
With the railway budget scheduled to be unveiled on Friday, these commuters are hoping yet again that Union minister Mamta Banerjee would chance a look at their troubles.
"Although the introduction of 12-carriage trains, increase in train speed and the near-zero power faults inside compartments have made a difference, the railways have miserably failed to anticipate and plan for the rising commuter traffic," Bhosekar complained.
The situation is worse for the residents of Badlapur, Karjat and Kasara who travel two to five hours every day to journey from their homes to Mumbai or Thane. With the trains from these stations being scarce, commuters often end up in abusive brawls while trying to disembark mid-route at Thane, Mulund or Vikhroli. "There is a one-hour gap between two trains leaving from Karjat for CST. The commuter traffic has risen sharply from these townships, but the frequency of the trains remains the same as it was years ago," pointed out Manohar Shelar, president of the Suburban Train Commuters Federation here.
Shelar said the situation often turns grave for commuters who have to disembark midway at Thane or any other station such as Mulund or Vikhroli.
"The need of the hour is to introduce short distance trains so that those who have to travel up to Kalyan or Thane do not crowd the Mumbai CST local. The poor frequency of trains and the abrupt discontinuation of shuttle services from Kalyan to Kasara by the railways have added to the hardships," said Vishwanth Dhatrak, a resident of Kasara.