There is a separate page on the history of the suburban railway system.
See a suburban railway map for Mumbai @mumbainet.
The suburban railway system in Bombay carries roughly 40% of the daily commuters. Two divisions of the Indian Railways serve the city. The Central Railways (CR) link the eastern suburbs to the city centre, and the Western Railways (WR) provide service to the western suburbs.
The CR provides 1090 trains every day, carrying at total of 2.7 million (27 lakhs) commuters. The WR run 901 services daily and transport a total of 2.6 million (26 lakhs) people.
Between 1983 and 1993 the suburban traffic increased by 45%, whereas the number of train services increased by only 19%, according to the fifth report of the standing committee of the railways (1993). Due to the inability of the railways to keep up with the increased demand for services, since 1992, constant disruptions and delays have occurred, resulting in at least 15 major cases of mob violence.
Major projects like the Bombay Urban Transport Project II have been delayed since the state and central governments have not been able to come to an agreement on the sharing of costs.
