Nikitha Kumari | 21st September 2025
Every morning, as the sun rises over Mumbai, millions of people step into a battle not with each other, but with the very system that is supposed to carry them forward. For the 7.5 million passengers who depend on trains, buses, and an underdeveloped metro network, commuting is not just about travel it is about survival. Mumbai is often celebrated as India’s financial capital, a city of dreams where fortunes are made. Yet, the very workers who fuel this city’s economy face a daily ordeal that strips away their time, energy, and dignity.
Mumbai’s commute is more than a logistical problem. It is a human rights issue. When reaching work becomes a gamble with one’s health, safety, and even life, we must ask: what kind of city are we building?
The Lifeline That Strangles: Overcrowded Local Trains
Mumbai’s suburban railway system is legendary. Spread across Western, Central, and Harbour lines, it ferries more passengers daily than the entire population of some countries. For decades, the local train has been called the city’s “lifeline.” But today, that lifeline is choking.
Every working day, compartments built to hold 1,200 people are crammed with over 4,500. Commuters hang dangerously from footboards, squeeze through suffocating crowds, and often faint in the heat. The numbers are staggering: more than 2,000 people die on Mumbai’s rail tracks each year falling, slipping, or being pushed in the chaos. Yet, authorities treat these deaths as mere statistics, not tragedies.
Imagine being a young student heading to college or a nurse reporting for a night shift, forced to gamble your safety just to get on board. Should the resilience of Mumbaikars be romanticized, or should it be recognized as systemic neglect?
BEST Buses: A Vanishing Option
If trains are overcrowded, buses should provide relief. Sadly, the opposite is true. Once considered the backbone of city mobility, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses are now a shrinking fleet. A decade ago, Mumbai had over 4,500 buses. Today, that number is down to around 3,000, even as the population has grown.
The reasons are familiar—financial mismanagement, lack of subsidies, and an obsession with privatization. But the result is brutal for commuters. Long waits at bus stops, overcrowded interiors, and erratic schedules make buses unreliable.
Take the case of any person working, studying, or doing anything in Mumbai, who often have to wait for 30–40 minutes during peak hours only to find buses too full to board. For them, as for thousands of others, the bus is not a choice but the only affordable mode of transport. When a public utility like BEST is allowed to decline, it is the poor and middle class who pay the heaviest price.
Metro Dreams vs. Harsh Realities
The Mumbai Metro, shiny and air-conditioned, is often touted as the future of urban transport. And yes, stepping into a clean, punctual, and spacious metro coach feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the chaos of locals and buses. But this “future” remains limited.
Currently, Mumbai’s metro covers barely a fraction of the city. Projects are plagued by delays, budget overruns, and political disputes. Integration with other transport systems is weak, forcing commuters to still depend heavily on trains and buses.
Let us be honest the metro is a welcome development, but it is far from enough. Without expansion, proper connectivity, and affordable fares, it risks becoming a middle-class luxury rather than a mass solution.
Roads That Crush More Than Traffic
For those who turn to private vehicles or cabs, the city’s roads offer little comfort. Traffic congestion has reached nightmarish proportions, with Mumbai consistently ranking among the most congested cities in the world. Peak-hour jams stretch journeys that should take 30 minutes into two-hour marathons. The rise of app-based taxis has added convenience but also worsened road congestion.
Pedestrians fare no better. Broken footpaths, reckless driving, and a lack of safe crossings turn a simple walk into a daily hazard. The city’s planning continues to prioritize vehicles over people, ignoring the fact that most Mumbaikars still depend on public transport or walking.
The Invisible Cost: Health, Time, and Dignity
The numbers may reveal overcrowding and delays, but the true cost of Mumbai’s commute is human. Hours lost in transit mean less time with families. Exhaustion impacts productivity. Students arrive late and drained for classes. Parents miss their children’s school events. Workers report chronic stress, respiratory problems from pollution, and even injuries from daily commutes.
For women, the challenges multiply. Overcrowded compartments often become sites of harassment. Poorly lit stations and bus stops create unsafe conditions, particularly at night. For the elderly and differently-abled, the system is nothing short of exclusionary.
When mobility becomes a punishment, how can we talk about quality of life?
What Needs to Change
Mumbai’s transport crisis is not inevitable—it is the product of choices. Policymakers must therefore move beyond piecemeal fixes and adopt a long-term vision. What the city urgently needs is an integrated transport policy where trains, buses, metros, and autos complement rather than compete with one another through unified planning and ticketing. Equally crucial is the revival of BEST, with subsidies, fleet expansion, and modern electric buses that can restore reliability and sustainability to the system. Local trains, too, must become safer through the addition of more coaches, improved crowd management, upgraded stations, and stricter safety protocols. At the same time, metro projects must be fast-tracked, kept affordable, and integrated seamlessly with other modes of transport to ensure inclusivity. Pedestrian-centric planning cannot be ignored wider, safer footpaths, skywalks, and cycling tracks are necessities, not luxuries. Finally, transport agencies must be held accountable, not only for efficiency and numbers but also for ensuring commuter safety, dignity, and well-being.
A Right, Not a Privilege
Mumbai is celebrated as the city that never sleeps. But perhaps it never sleeps because its people spend their lives on the move. To romanticize this endurance as “spirit” is to insult the struggles of millions. Efficient, safe, and affordable transport is not a luxury it is a basic right in any modern city.
The question is simple: do we want Mumbai to remain a city that survives on its people’s patience, or do we want it to thrive on proper planning, investment, and care?
Until we answer that honestly, every train footboard, every overcrowded bus, and every traffic jam will continue to remind us of a truth we cannot ignore: Mumbai runs on compromise, not infrastructure.
Nikitha Kumari is a media scholar and writer with a keen interest in urban life, governance, and public policy. Her work explores the intersection of media, infrastructure, and everyday struggles in Indian cities.
