RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

MUMBAI RAILWAYS
 GROUP MEMBERS

Aditi Aurora 03

Anusha Thakur 09

Bhumi Shah 16

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 Table of contents

INTRODUCTION

Mumbai suburban railway-

the lifeline of Mumbai............................................04

NEED FOR CURRENT PROBLEM

Various railway problems.......................................08

RESEARCH PROBLEM DEFINED

Train frequency during monsoons

as compared to rest of the months....................10

LITERATURE REVIEW

Monsoons in Mumbai................................................11

Railways affected due to rains.............................13

DATA ANALYSIS............................................................14

HYPOTHESIS...................................................................21

SUMMARY.........................................................................23

CONCLUSION..................................................................24

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................25
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 Mumbai Suburban Railway

The lifeline of Mumbai

The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest in Asia, it was founded in

1847. Mumbai Suburban Railways are rightly called the lifelines of
the metropolis. The suburban railways have played a very prominent
role in the development of the city, and it is virtually impossible to
imagine Mumbai without its ‘locals’. It is owned by Indian Railways
and is operated by Western Railways and Central Railways. With a
length of 303 km, it has highest passenger density in the world, 6.3
million people daily, which is more than half of Indian Railways daily
carrying capacity utilized by Mumbai. It has three lines: the
Western Line, the Central Line, and the Harbour Line.

These suburban trains are popularly known as Locals and they run
from 4 AM till 1 AM. Mumbai suburban services have various such
designations A 'fast' train or 'fast local' is essentially one that is
fast (runs express, skipping stops) until a certain station, and from
that station onwards runs like a local.

In year 1992, Mumbai's WR and CR introduced 'Ladies Special'

trains. A 'Complete Ladies Special' train has all its coaches reserved

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for women passengers. A 'Semi-Ladies Special' is a train with a few
(e.g., 3) coaches reserved for women.

The route network

Western line

Two corridors on Western Railway run northwards from Churchgate

terminus parallel to the west coast up to Dahanu Road (120 km).
These corridors are popularly referred to as 'Western Line' by the
locals mainly because it is operated and owned by the Western
Railways. Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) ply between Churchgate and
Virar (64 km), while Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMUs)
service the section beyond Virar till Dahanu Road (60 km). Western
railway's EMU fleet consists of EMUs running on DC (1.5 kV) power
as well as those running as dual-current i.e. AC (25 kV) and DC (1.5
KV) power. EMUs are 9 car, 12 car or 15 car formations and are
differentiated as slow and fast locals. Slow trains halt at all
stations, while fast ones halt at important stations only and are
preferable over longer distances.

Central line

The Central Line in Mumbai consists of 3 major corridors, which

bifurcate as they run into suburban satellite towns. Two corridors on
Central Railway run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to
Kalyan (54 km), from where it bifurcates into two lines — one
running up to Kasara (67 km) in the north-east and the other running
up to Khopoli (61 km) in the south-east. These two corridors
constitute the 'Main' Line. The Central main line shares two stations
with the Western line at Parel and Dadar. There are fast and slow
locals here for suburban service. Slow locals halt at every station,
while fast locals halts vary between Byculla, Dadar, Kurla,
Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, Thane, Dombivali and Kalyan.

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Harbour line

The Harbour line is part of the Central Railway, and runs a train
corridor from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Andheri, Thane
and Panvel. All harbour line services operate as slow services. The
line operates from two separate platforms at Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus (CST), and the tracks cross over the main line at
Sandhurst Road, to head towards stations along Mumbai's eastern
dock area. A branch line from Wadala Road joins the Western
Railway Line at Mahim and continues towards Andheri. The harbour
line shares a common station at Kurla with the main line, where it
turns east towards Navi Mumbai. The Harbour line further
bifurcates at Vashi into two lines — one rejoins the main lines at
Thane, while the other continues to Panvel.

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 Mumbai railway route map

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 Railway problems
Mumbai railways, in spite of being the lifeline of the city, have a lot
of problems. A few of them are mentioned below:

 Overcrowding
 Overcrowded stations
 Difficult entry and exit
 Encroachment and trespassing
 Train accidents
 Frequency of railways- during the monsoon period and during
the rest of the year

The Wall Street Journal estimated that the Mumbai commuter

network's rail tracks carry 20,000 passengers every day for each
kilometer, or 0.62 mile, of rail. During peak hours in Mumbai, 550
people travel in a carriage built for 200.

Due to its extensive reach across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,

and its intensive use by the local urban population, overcrowding has
grown to be a compelling problem (5,000 + passengers are packed
into a 9-car rake during peak hours, as against the rated carrying
capacity of 1,700). This has resulted in what is known as Super-
Dense Crush Load of 14 to 16 standing passengers per square meter
of floor space. Trains on the suburban line are on average more than
4 minutes apart, contributing to the problem of overcrowding.

This overcrowding leads to difficult entry and exit of passengers.

Also a lot of train accidents occur.

In 2006, 3,404 people were killed involving Mumbai trains, according

to the Wall Street Journal. Those killed were commuters on the
trains, crossing the tracks or slipped off the platform while
boarding or getting off extremely crowded trains.

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Another problem of Mumbai rails is that the changes in frequency in
the arrival of trains. There are a lot of delays in train arrival due to
which overcrowding increases.

Another noticeable railway problem is that the train frequency

reduces considerably during the monsoon season as compared to the
rest of the year. So our research topic focuses on the study of the
frequency of trains during these two periods.

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The study of train frequency during monsoons
as compared to the rest of the year

In recent years, Mumbai has been facing the most brunts of heavy
monsoons in India. Right from the dark days of June 2005, the
monsoons in Mumbai have been slashing and brutal. Though the
administration has been claiming from past two years that it has
been prepared to control the adverse effects of monsoons, little has
been done. The city’s suburban railway which ferries millions of
people every day and trains which are the backbone of Mumbai’s
transportation gets jostled. Train services come to a grinding halt
with flooding of railway tracks. All this result into slowing down of
the trains and thus reducing the frequency.

This research project concentrates on the comparison of train

frequency during monsoon season and other months. We have
supported our study by t-test which proves that the frequency of
trains is not the same in the months of monsoon and in other months.

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 Monsoons in Mumbai
The following table shows the rainfall in Mumbai for the last 5 years
in mm. This statistics is obtained from the Hydromet division of the
Indian Meteorological Department

YEAR JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

2004 281.9 812.3 862.6 172.7

2005 561.8 1049.8 462.3 668.6
2006 456.2 999.5 765.1 259.6
2007 776.6 650.9 646.2 428.7
2008 768.0 910.2 498.8 338.0
2009 241.0 956.8 247.4 420.8

The monsoon season in Mumbai usually occurs in between the months

of June and September. The monsoon season is responsible for the
deposition of more than Mumbai's total annual rainfall that is around
1800mm. It is both interesting and mysterious to note that the first
shower of rain in Mumbai occurs from the 7th of June. However of
late, wide levels of fluctuations are noticed about the onset of the
monsoons.

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The following graphs show the rainfall in Mumbai in 2009

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 Railways affected due to rainfall
Rainfall in Mumbai results in slowing down of railways as also
reduction in its frequency. Rainfall leads to problems like flooding of
the railway tracks, disruption of railway lines, etc.

Mumbai railways were almost damaged during the rains in 2005. The
26th July floods created a lot of problems in Mumbai railway line.
Some of the problems during that period are summarized as follows:

 During the floods rail links were disrupted and reports on late
evening of 30th July 2005 indicated cancellation of several long
distance trains up to 6th August 2005.
 Many railway tracks were damaged and platforms were
completely under water.
 The force of the water removed the slab of the tracks and the
trains were unable to move.
 The stations were under 5-6 feet of water, hence making it
impossible for trains to pass by.

This was the case of just during the floods. But railways are
affected even in the normal rainfall. The trains move slow thus
making it difficult for commuters to reach their destination on time.
Many a times the train stops midway due to flooding of tracks and
the commuters have to walk all along the tracks to reach the nearest
railway station. All these problems faced by the commuters during
monsoons have been analysed by us through the help of a
questionnaire followed hereafter.

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 OBJECTIVE
Our objective for conducting this research is:

 To study whether the frequency of trains is affected

in the monsoons.
 To check whether the train frequency in monsoon is
less than in normal months.

SOURCE OF DATA AND SAMPLE SIZE

Primary Data

The primary source of data used in the research is the data

collected through the form of questionnaires which was filled in by
50 people.

Secondary Data

The secondary data sources utilized here includes basically the

internet. We got most of our information from
www.mrvc.indianrail.gov.in, www.imdmumbai.gov.in, www.wikipedia.com

SAMPLE SIZE
Our sample size is 50 people targeting people of different age
groups and occupations.

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 QUESTIONNAIRE

Q1. Have you ever experienced delay of trains during monsoons?

A) Yes

B) No

Q2. Have you ever come across water logging on the tracks during rains?

A) Yes

B) No

Q3. During monsoon, do you face problem while crossing the bridges or platform
because of lack of cleanliness?

A) Yes

B) No

Q4. Has that ever happened to you that there are no trains to reach your
destination?

A) Yes

B) No

Q5. How much time does it take you to reach Borivali from Churchgate during
rains?

A) 45 minutes

B) 1 hour

C) 1.5 hours

D) 2 hours

Q6. Do you prefer to commute by trains during monsoons or by road?

A) Train

B) Road

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 ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONNAIRE

The Data presented below is obtained by making a survey of people

of different age groups commuting on a regular basis by local trains.
People of different age groups were given a questionnaire to choose
their option from the given alternatives. Individual analysis of each
question is as follows:

Q1.Have you experienced delay of trains during monsoons?

Yes 90
No 10

Yes
No

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Q2. Have you ever come across water logging on the tracks during
rains?

Yes 75
No 25

Yes
No

Q3. During monsoon, do you face problem while crossing the bridges
or platform because of lack of cleanliness?

Yes 75
No 25

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 Yes
No

Q4. Has that ever happened to you that there are no trains to reach
your destination?

Yes 60
No 40

Yes
No

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Q5. How much time does it take you to reach Borivali from
Churchgate during rains?

45 minutes 12
1 hour 28
1.5 hours 35
2 hours 25

45 minutes
1 hour
1.5 hours
2 hours

Q6. Do you prefer to commute by trains during monsoons or by

road?

Rail 65
Road 35

Rail
Road

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Overall Analysis:
The response we got from the questionnaires from the people show
that the most of them have experienced the above mentioned
problems during the monsoon period in Mumbai. It takes them a lot
of time in reaching their destination even to a nearest location.

Thus, by conducting this research we found that the commuters are

not completely satisfied with the local trains during monsoons. They
have to face many problems. Hence, there comes a need to improve
many of the problems that the commuters face.

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HYPOTHESIS THROUGH T-TEST

TIMINGS NORMAL MONSOON Di=Xi-Yi DIFFERENCE

Xi Yi SQUARED
Di²
8-9 12 9 3 9
9-10 10 7 3 9
10-11 15 10 5 25
11-12 11 9 2 4
12-1 11 9 2 4
1-2 11 8 3 9
2-3 13 10 3 9
3-4 10 7 3 9
4-5 14 11 3 9
5-6 10 6 4 16
∑Di= 31 ∑Di²= 103
Our null hypothesis is:

The frequency of the trains during the monsoon and non-monsoon

period is the same.

Our alternate hypothesis is:

The frequency of the trains during the monsoon and non-momsoon

period is not the same

Mean of Difference or D = ∑Di/n = 31/10 = 3.1

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Standard deviation of differences = [∑Di² - (D) ². N] ½

N-1

= 103- (3.1) ²(10)

10-1

= 0.87

T- TEST

t= D-0 = 3.1 – 0 = 11.48

S.D. / (N) ½ 0.87/ (10) ½

Degrees at freedom= 0.38

Since S.D.≠ Degrees at freedom

Thus, the hypothesis is rejected.

Therefore, it can be said that the frequency of the trains during

monsoons and non-monsoon periods is not the same.

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 SUMMARY
This research was done with a view to study the impact of monsoons
on the Mumbai railway system and to show that frequency of trains
in monsoons is less than compared to other normal months. Data was
collected by making a survey of people of different age groups
staying in different parts of Mumbai through questionnaire. From
the data thus collected it was observed that commuters face a lot
of problems while travelling during the monsoon season.

We noticed that commuters are not satisfied from the railway

facilities during monsoons. Almost 90% of the people we questioned
answered that they were majorly affected due to delays in train
arrivals and could not reach on time to their respective destinations.
Almost 70% people are not satisfied with the cleanliness of trains
and railway platforms during monsoons.

It was further observed that in spite of the government announcing

that all precautionary measures are taken for proper railway
transport during monsoons; hardly any of the steps are implemented
towards the cause.

Mumbai was terribly affected during the 26th July floods and so
were the Mumbai railways. Since then very few corrective measures
are taken. The state of the railways deteriorates further during
monsoons.

The data and as per the statistic obtained through the

questionnaires filled by railway commuters also shows that though
there are many problems faced by people while travelling by trains in
monsoons, 65% people still prefer this mode of transport. This is
because railway transport is a quicker transport as compared to the

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other mode of transport i.e. roadways. And in a fast going city like
Mumbai efficient and time-saving transportation is very essential.

CONCLUSION
Thus by conducting this research we found out that the most sort
after transportation system amongst the masses i.e. the railways
have problems that are not looked after. Mumbai city is advancing by
leaps and bounds but the condition of railways is neglected. This
creates a lot of problems especially during monsoons. Enhancement
of railways is majorly required and the government should turn
attention towards it.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 The Maharashtra Railway Vikas Corporation official
website - www.mrvc.indianrail.gov.in
 The Indian meteorological dept - www.imdmumbai.gov.in
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.scribd.com
 Research methodology by C. R. Kothari

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