The Western Railway line between Churchgate and Virar carries about 2.6 million passengers per day, almost 43 per cent of the total Mumbai suburban rail traffic, while the Central Railway caters to around four million commuters, which helped the two rail networks chug into record books for passenger rail transport.

Today the life of an average city commuter revolves around the ‘locals’ — from boarding particular trains daily, to ‘capturing’ seats, to analysing stock markets and discussing cricket with co-passengers-turned-friends, besides occasional exchange of swear in the jam-packed trains.

The introduction of the two railways— the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and the Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railway— in 1853 and 1864 respectively, not only ensured steady stream of cotton and other essential commodities from the interior to the island city, but also symbolically connected the burgeoning city to its hinterland. And the biggest testament is the direction of growth that charted Bomby— now Mumbi — towards expansion of its rail network and integrated development that welded along the lines of the Central and Western Railway lines. The Western, Central Railway and the railways’ developmental body Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) are chalking out their expansion plans for the mega-projects like Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and elevated rail corridor project with AC trains. The MRVC is also working on adding newer rakes, extending services to cater to ever-increasing number of commuters.

According to historians, the working class, primarily the peasants, from the hinterland started pouring into the city in search of livelihood at mills, dockyards, etc. “Since early 1900s, the railways have not only provided easy transportation of goods, but also job opportunities to migrants,” said G D Patwardhan, a city-based railway historian. He added that with this changing patterns influenced the continuing shift of economic epicenter from the island city to newer areas. Patwardhan said the accessibility that trains provide has been instrumental in changing demography, culture and mostly importantly economy of the financial capital.