Mumbai, August 2: Mumbai local trains are considered to be the lifeline of the city, and more than 8-million passengers travel every week in it. According to the Government Railway Police (GRP) data, eight people died every day on Mumbai’s railway tracks in 2017, which is down 20 percent from 10 deaths as compared to 2013. In 2018, as of July 20, there have been 1,578 deaths, comprising of (1,404) males, and (174) females.

As per an India Spend report, 18,050 deaths were reported on Mumbai’s tracks over the last five years (till July 20, 2018). Out of these, 89 percent were male, and 11 percent were female. The data further highlighted that many of those who died on the tracks go untraced or unidentified each year. Central line areas appeared more deadly, with Kalyan reporting most deaths (368) in 2017, followed by Kurla (331) and Thane (324).

Below is a graphical representation of the percentage of daily deaths that take place on Mumbai railway tracks

Every day there are several incidents of people coming under the train or falling on the tracks. Last month, a woman was killed after being hit by a train at Bandra station on July 19, 2018, while trying to cross the tracks with her two kids who were injured. Many lives have been saved as well due to the presence of mind of the CRPF or passengers present in the station, who have rescued people from slipping under the train.

Last month, a portion of the Andheri bridge collapsed and fell on the tracks, causing two deaths and blocking the Western line for several hours. Every monsoon, the tracks gets flooded, and the service is also affected, causing severe inconvenience to commuters who depend on Mumbai locals.  Recently the name of Elphinstone station was renamed to Prabhadevi, which led to people questioning how the authorities are more concerned about doing such irrelevant things, rather than ensuring better safety and improving the service of Mumbai locals.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2018 10:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).