Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s recent announcement in Mumbai about making provisions in the forthcoming Railway budget for the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP II) gives a ray of hope to the metro’s long-suffering railway commuters.

The MUTP II aims at improving travelling condition of over six million suburban train commuters, where 16 people jostle for a toe-hold on a square metre of space during peak hours. However, the Rs 4,500 crore project, in which the state Government will share a part of the cost, is awaiting the approval of the Railway Ministry.

With passengers getting restive, and commuters, in areas like Virar, enforcing a one-day blockade of services to press for better services and increased frequencies, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the recent National Development Council (NDC) meeting in New Delhi, had stressed for the Ministry’s approval for the MUTP II.

He had also noted the unrest among commuters demanding better travelling conditions and improved services, and how passengers lost their lives after falling off the trains.

The MUTP II aims at reducing the peak hour congestion to almost half the existing level, where rakes meant for 1,700 passengers are carrying more than twice their capacity at 5,000 passengers.

Despite the state Government’s much publicised $60 billion makeover plan for Mumbai, lack of affordable housing and poor public transport facilities dog the common man in a city where over 88 per cent commuters travel by local trains and BEST buses, by the Government’s own admission. The plans for a Metro route between Versova, Andheri and Ghatkopar have also seen delays due to land-acquisition wrangles.

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