MUMBAI: In a first, the Central Railway (CR) has appointed licenced vendors who can sell goods in local trains – in both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned coaches — on its Harbour line. The initiative took effect a week ago. Vendors however are not allowed to sell food articles on the CSMT-Panvel route, and the most common items on sale are trinkets and hair accessories.
The move comes as commuters have raised concerns about the recent spate of accidents leading to deaths from overcrowding in local trains. Miffed rail passenger associations are now seeking an audience with CR’s Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai) Hiresh Mina for clarification about the latest initiative.
“We have called the DRM and sought information on how vendors carrying wares can be allowed to travel in local trains. They are seen commuting inside the AC locals wearing identity cards. We wish to meet rail authorities as this will cause inconvenience to daily commuters,” said Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Federation of Suburban Rail Passengers Association.
Lata Argade, member of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, pointed out how CR’s new move will further shrink space in the locals. “When there is hardly any room for people to commute in local trains at any given time of the day, the CR authorities are giving permission to hawkers. The sharp edges of the jewellery they sell have injured many women passengers in ladies’ coaches. We oppose this and want CR to reverse the decision,” she said.
Argade also underlined the consequence of overcrowding in trains – recently a young student, who was on his way to take an HSC examination, fell from a moving train near Mumbra-Kalwa due to crowding.
CR began running air-conditioned trains on the Harbour line with 14 services since January 26. This led to a sharp surge in ridership—6.40 lakh passengers travelled on the route between January 26 and February 10, averaging 40,017 passengers per day in the initial phase of operations. In this span, CR earned ₹2.38 crore from AC local ticket sales, averaging ₹14.90 lakh per day. ₹1.79 crore was garnered from season tickets and ₹59 lakh from journey tickets.
CR currently operates 94 AC local services across its suburban network, including the 14 services recently introduced on the Harbour line.
Reacting to the backlash from commuters’ bodies, CR officials argued that they permitted only 50 vendors who are selling non-consumable items. “They are selling during non-peak hours when the rush is less and will not have an impact on the commuters. This will also give us scope to keep track of who is selling inside our premises and have records on them for safety purposes,” said a CR official.
Embed
HL
IR nabs over 200 illegal vendors in 23 days
The Indian Railways is appointing contractual staff with uniforms and ID cards inside long distance trains. The IRCTC is carrying out checks inside long-distance trains to weed out illegal vendors. In 23 days from January 31, authorities caught 203 illegal vendors.
Back in 2023-24, CR had proposed introducing vendors inside local trains for a period of three years. However, since no private vendors evinced any interest in it, the plan was put on ice.