Mumbai locals every 3 minutes? Railway minister pitches plan
Mumbai's local train system could see a major upgrade if a new plan is adopted: trains every three minutes on the Central and Harbour lines.
This plan, pitched last year by ex-Central Railway manager Rajnish Goyal and in principle approved by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, aims to fix the daily crush of crowds and make travel safer—without building new tracks.
What's the new plan?
The network will be split into sectors with dedicated routes—think CSMT to Thane, or Thane to Kalyan.
You'll switch at major stations like Thane or Kurla.
With shorter trip cycles (just 30-45 minutes), trains can run more often and handle more people.
When will it be implemented?
If this sector-based system rolls out, overcrowding could drop sharply and peak-hour waits might shrink to just 1.5 minutes between trains.
It should also make boarding less chaotic and scheduling smoother.
The catch: while the plan has official support, it hasn't been fully adopted yet as talks continue on how best to tackle Mumbai's rail crowding problem.