The Mumbai Local Began as a 21-Mile Run to Thane on 16 April 1853 and Now Runs 3,234 Services a Day for About 6.8 Million Riders

On 16 April 1853 a train left Bori Bunder in Bombay for Thane, 21 miles away. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) ran it, and the FIBIS family-history wiki describes the line as India’s first railway open to public traffic. The same corridor is now part of a suburban network that, by the Ministry of Railways’ count of April 2026, runs 3,234 electric local services a day.

What is on record about the first train

Central Railway’s own history page says the first train in the Indian sub-continent ran from Mumbai to Thane on 16 April 1853 and gives the stretch as 33 km. The FIBIS wiki and the Indian Railways Fan Club (IRFCA) both give 21 miles, which is about 34 km. Twenty-one miles is 33.8 km, so the two figures differ only by rounding, and this article uses the miles.

IRFCA’s account names the three locomotives Sultan, Sindh and Sahib and counts 14 carriages and about 400 guests. It says the train left to a salute of 21 guns, and it gives the departure as 3:30 pm in one place and 3:35 pm in another. It also credits the idea to George Clark, chief engineer of the Bombay government, who conceived the line during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.

The company had been incorporated on 1 August 1849 by an act of the British Parliament, with share capital of 50,000 pounds, according to FIBIS and Central Railway. Robert Stephenson advised from London, and James John Berkley served as chief resident engineer. The financial terms on which companies like this built India’s early railways are examined in a separate tuput article.

Kalyan by 1854

FIBIS records that the line was carried on from Thane to Kalyan (then Callian) during 1853 and 1854, and that the Tannah Viaduct opened on 1 May 1854. Bombay to Kalyan is about 33.5 miles, or 54 km, which matches Central Railway’s figure for the run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Kalyan, where the line splits. The terminus at the Bombay end has its own article.

The second railway in the story is the Bombay, Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) Railway. Western Railway’s history page says it was incorporated in 1855, began with a 29-mile broad gauge track in Gujarat and was extended to Mumbai in 1864. On 5 November 1951 the present zones were formed: Central Railway from the GIPR, and Western Railway through a merger that included the BB&CI.

Electric trains in 1925 and 1928

The first electric suburban service ran on 3 February 1925. IRFCA’s metro and suburban FAQ places it on the GIPR’s Harbour branch, from Victoria Terminus (now CSMT), on 1.5 kV direct current (DC) overhead wires, between Victoria Terminus and Kurla. The Free Press Journal gives the distance to Kurla as about 16 km and adds that the train had four coaches, that the Governor of Bombay, Sir Leslie Wilson, attended, and that the motorman was Jehangir Framji Daruwala.

On the western side, the IET Archives blog describes the BB&CI’s electrification as work done from 1926 to 1928. The first structure went up near Goregaon on 6 April 1926, and 52 coaches arrived by ship on 20 November 1927. The Colaba to Borivali section, 37.8 km, opened on 5 January 1928, with only two suburban tracks electrified between Bandra and Borivali at first.

The later change was from DC to alternating current (AC) at 25,000 volts. IRFCA says the Western line was fully converted in 2012 and that the last DC services on the Harbour line ran from Kurla to CSMT on 9 April 2016. Business Today reported on 10 June 2015 that the CSMT to Thane and CSMT to Mumbra sections on Central Railway had switched. The project cost Rs 1,176 crore and had been sanctioned nearly 20 years earlier. The report says it removed the 15-minute halt that long-distance trains needed at the changeover and cut energy losses by about 30 percent, roughly Rs 114 crore a year in the Mumbai Division. The wider national programme is told in another tuput article.

Two zones, five corridors

A Cabinet release of 30 November 2016 gives the official outline. The suburban network of Central and Western Railways had 376 route km in five corridors, two on Western Railway, two on Central Railway and the Harbour line, which Central Railway also runs. The release said about 8 million people travelled daily in more than 2,900 train services.

Central Railway describes its suburban system as running from CSMT to Kalyan (54 km), where it divides toward Kasara (121 km) and Khopoli (114 km). On the western side, IRFCA gives Churchgate to Virar as 60 km, and the Ministry’s papers give the Virar to Dahanu Road stretch as 63 to 64 km. A July 2025 release says work has been sanctioned to bring Churchgate to Virar to four lines from Churchgate to Mumbai Central, eight from Mumbai Central to Borivali and six from Borivali to Virar.

How many ride it

The Free Press Journal reported on 3 April 2026, from Central and Western Railway data, that average daily ridership on Central Railway was 43.22 lakh in 2018-19 and 38.70 lakh in 2025-26. On Western Railway the figures were 34.87 lakh before the pandemic and 29.52 lakh in 2025-26. Adding the two zones gives about 7.8 million a day then and about 6.8 million a day now. That sum is tuput’s arithmetic, and the two zones may not count journeys in exactly the same way.

Railway officials quoted by the paper attributed the gap to continued work from home and to the spread of metro lines. They also said revenue per day had risen on both zones, helped by air-conditioned (AC) locals, stricter action against ticketless travel and longer commutes from the outer suburbs.

AC ridership is rising. The Ministry told Parliament that the number of passengers on AC trains in the suburban sections of the two zones rose 30.44 percent in 2024-25 over 2023-24, and that the basic single-journey fare on AC suburban services was cut by around 50 percent from 5 May 2022. Of the 3,234 services counted in April 2026, Western Railway runs 1,414, including 133 AC, and Central Railway 1,820, including 94 AC.

What is being added

Three phases of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) have been sanctioned: MUTP-II at Rs 8,087 crore, MUTP-III at Rs 10,947 crore and MUTP-IIIA at Rs 33,690 crore, which together make Rs 52,724 crore. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation executes the works with costs shared 50:50 with the Government of Maharashtra, according to the Ministry’s July 2025 release.

The works include a sixth line from Mumbai Central to Borivali (30 km), a fifth and sixth line from CSMT to Kurla (17.5 km) and from Borivali to Virar (26 km), a third and fourth line from Virar to Dahanu Road (64 km), a Panvel to Karjat suburban corridor (29.6 km) and an elevated Airoli to Kalwa link (3.3 km). The 2016 Cabinet note said the Panvel to Karjat line would shorten the CSMT to Karjat route by 23 km and save 35 to 40 minutes on slow trains, and that the Airoli to Kalwa link would let Kalyan to Vashi passengers bypass Thane.

For trains, 238 rakes (sets of coaches) of 12 cars each with doors have been sanctioned at Rs 19,293 crore, and the Ministry says the procurement process has been taken up. During 2025-26 the zones received four 12-car AC rakes (two each) and, for Western Railway, one 15-car non-AC rake, and platform extension for 15-car trains has been taken up at 34 stations. The Ministry lists land acquisition, forest clearance, shifting of utilities and statutory clearances among the factors that decide completion dates. Andheri East and Ghatkopar railway stations are already integrated with metro stations, and India’s wider metro network is covered separately.

Tickets, apps and coaches

Western Railway’s suburban ticketing page, last reviewed on 24 June 2026 and read on 28 October 2026, lists the options. Tickets are sold at counters at all suburban stations, and the journey should begin within an hour of purchase. A return ticket is valid until midnight of the next day on weekdays, and one bought on a Friday runs to Monday. Self-service machines sell AC, first-class and second-class tickets. The railway’s smart card costs Rs 70, of which Rs 50 is a refundable deposit, and gives 3 percent extra value on each recharge. Prices change, so check the railway’s page before travelling.

Tourist tickets allow unlimited travel on the Western and Central suburban sections for one, three or five days. The one-day price runs from Rs 80 in second class to Rs 340 in AC on that page.

The Mumbai One app was launched on 8 October 2025 and carries a single QR ticket for suburban trains, four Mumbai metro lines, the monorail and five city bus operators. At launch it could not book season tickets or return tickets for suburban trains. Lunch tiffins ride the same trains, as the account of the city’s dabbawalas describes.

Ladies’ specials date to 1992. The Free Press Journal reports that Western Railway ran its first on 5 May 1992 between Churchgate and Borivali, and that Central Railway began its own on 1 July 1992.

Crowding and safety

The 2016 Cabinet release described severe overcrowding in suburban trains at peak hours and named it as the reason for the expansion programme.

In a written Lok Sabha reply on 23 July 2025 the Railway Minister, citing Government Railway Police data, said 2,282 deaths were reported on Mumbai’s suburban network in 2024, from causes that included trespassing, falls from running trains and falling into platform gaps. He said AC locals have automatic doors that stay closed while the train moves, and that policing on the railways is a state subject, with the Railway Protection Force supplementing the state police.