Mumbai Suburban Railway services have trains with four main designations: •
Slow trains: (denoted by an
S) stop at every station. These are intended for daily commuters. •
Fast trains: (denoted by an
F) run express (skipping stops and going mainly to
railway junctions) until a certain station, and from that station onward run like a slow train. These are intended for daily commuters as well as express connectivity to the rest of
Indian Railways outbound trains. •
Air Conditioned trains: (denoted by an
AC) which are air-conditioned and can be either fast or slow.
Travel classes The suburban fleet comprises 12- and 15-coach rakes. There are two main classes of travel: First Class and Second Class. The First Class fare is approximately eight times more expensive than that of Second Class, making it less crowded during non-rush hours. However, during rush hour, it can be equally or even more crowded than the general compartments, as many office employees possess a First Class transport pass provided by their employers. First Class and Senior Citizen compartments feature cushioned seating, while the other compartments typically have plastic seating. The available classes of travel are as follows: •
Class I (
first class compartment): Commonly known as
first class. The coach is designated by red and yellow slant stripes. The location of the same is designated by colouring the platform walls with similar stripes. The price is generally hiked up eight times to prevent the compartment overcrowding. The seats in this class are leather-made. •
Class II (
general compartment): Also called
second class. The seats in this class are plastic-made. •
Class I-L (
Ladies first class): similar to normal First Class, reserved solely for females. Men are not allowed to travel, and may face a penalty. Some of the coaches of ladies' compartments are open to the general public between 23:00 and 06:00. These are indicated by a note near the doors of the compartments. The coach is designated by red and yellow slant stripes. The location of the same is designated by colouring the platform walls with similar stripes. This compartment is often adjacent to the ladies' general compartment. •
Class II-L (
Ladies second class): This compartment is reserved solely for females. Men are not allowed to travel and can face a penalty. Male children are tolerated, though still not legal. Some of the coaches of ladies' compartments are open to the general public between 23:00 and 06:00. These are indicated by a note near the doors of the compartments. The coach is designated by green and yellow slant stripes. The location of the same is designated by colouring the platform walls with similar stripes. •
Divyangjan (
Handicapped, Pregnant Ladies and Cancer patients compartment): for
people with disabilities or
cancer. On a platform, one can locate these by signs or by following a beeping sound indicator for the
visually impaired, or also by following a yellow tactile path with a walking stick. These coaches are open to all genders. One needs a valid certificate of disability to board the compartment. Failure to do so may result in a penalty. •
Senior citizens: is reserved for passengers above the age of 60. These coaches are open to all genders. One needs a valid age proof to board the compartment. Failure to do so may result in a penalty. •
Luggage: heavy goods and luggage can be transported using this compartment. These compartments are spacious and only have seats along the walls, and are made to haul goods. There are also
women-only cars (termed
ladies special), and since 1992,
Ladies Special trains with the entire train seats reserved for women passengers. A semi ladies' special is a train with a few (e.g., three) coaches reserved for women. These designations can be combined with
fast,
slow, etc., with terms such as
Slow Ladies Special.
Air-conditioned The Mumbai Suburban Railways are known for their open doors and windows. This is because there is no ventilation system on the trains, and the train relies on natural air ventilation. This was introduced as a cost-saving measure, as an air-conditioning system would be rendered useless during rush hour. Leaving the doors open also allows for a fast boarding process, as the trains stop for only 10 seconds, to combat overcrowding. In 2016, the Indian Railways manufactured its first AC local train to provide better journeys in the hot and humid summer season. This rake is manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory,
Chennai. It has several new facilities, such as connected vestibules and automatic doors. It runs from to on the Western line and
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to and on the Central line. AC trains include fast and slow locals and started their run from 25 December 2016 on WR and 30 January 2020 on CR.
Ticketing The Mumbai Suburban Railway uses a
proof-of-payment fare collection system. Tickets can be purchased at every train station. Travelling without a valid ticket is an offence and if caught, can result in a penalty. The penalty is steeper for passengers travelling in
first class without a valid ticket. Tickets can be bought for a single journey (one way) or a return journey. A return ticket is valid till the next day on weekdays and till Monday if purchased on a Friday. The ticket counters usually have long queues. Tourist tickets are valid for one, three, or five days and can be purchased up to three days in advance. Platform tickets are required to be purchased by those members of the public not boarding trains, but who wish to access the platforms at all stations, perhaps for the purpose of receiving or seeing off a passenger and also to use footbridges. These cost . A person can be penalised for non-possession of this ticket. ;CVMs and ATVMs To save time, a Coupon Booklet can be purchased, and the coupons can be punched for the designated fare at Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) at every station. The ticket fares matrix is pasted above the CVM. As of October 2012, there are approximately 575 CVMs on Mumbai Suburban Railway stations. The Central Railway network has 350, and the Western Line has 225. In early 2015, the authorities decided to discontinue CVMs w.e.f 1 April 2015. This decision was taken due to extensive duplication of the coupons and the lack of transparency. The coupons were also lacking a way to trace them. There are also reloadable
Smart Cards, and riders can use them to print tickets for themselves from an
Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVMs). A seasonal ticket is available for regular commuters. Riders can choose the validity of these tickets from 1-month, three months, or a year. Season Tickets are the most cost-effective and time-efficient option for regular commuters. In 2022, the ATVM added new payment methods. Initially, it has only the Railway Smart Card payment option. But with the new payment methods, ticketing has become much faster. It has two features, the first one is BHIM UPI QR CODE (Pay by Paytm) and the second one is BHIM UPI QR CODE (Pay by Freecharge). ;Mobile app The ticket counters usually have long queues. In order to bring a solution to this problem, the UTSOnMobile app was launched by the railways minister
Suresh Prabhu at
Dadar railway station in December 2014. This app was launched initially for
Android and
Windows Phone, with the
iOS version developed later. After signing up, the user has the option to load the prepaid RWallet built in the app, using credit/debit cards, net banking,
IMPS or private mobile-based apps. After the RWallet is loaded, the app can be used to book tickets on the entire network. Alternatively, the user may book tickets directly using credit/debit cards, net banking, IMPS, UPI, or various digital wallets such as PayTM, MobiKwik etc. for payments within the app without having to load the prepaid RWallet. Initially, the ticket booked on the app had to be printed from the ATVMs. This step was found tedious by the commuters and was criticised. Later, in July 2015, an update for the app was launched, which made e-tickets acceptable. The update also brought technical changes, like the tickets could be booked only within a radius of 30m to 5 km of the origin station, and not from the platform. This move was well received by commuters, which resulted in over 50,000 downloads on the launch day.
Security The
Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the
Government Railway Police (GRP) are responsible for the Security of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. The RPF is a security force under the authority of the Indian
Ministry of Railways established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957 has the power to search, arrest, investigate and prosecute, though the ultimate power rests in the hands of the GRP. The GRP is the main police force established by the
Railways Act, 1989. The GRP's responsibility is to observe law and order on all railway property. The force is under joint-control of the Indian
Ministry of Railways and the
Maharashtra Police. Its duties correspond to those of the
District Police in the areas under their jurisdiction, such as
patrolling, but only on railway property. It also aids and provides assistance to the
Railway Protection Force. ==Safety issues==