Local Talk
Published by amrit on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 10:25 AM
You see me standing inside a running local train in Chennai. In this city, people hardly avail the local train services. This was my first and so far the only experience in a local in Chennai.This pic was taken some time back in early May but posting it now 'coz I received it late.
I have lived in Mumbai for some time and there's one thing for sure. Inside a Mumbai local, no one thinks about taking pics. Or rather, no one has the time to do so. Mumbai locals are crowded like hell.
But tell me, what's the fun of riding a local if you don't have to face a crowded cabin; where you need to struggle to get in, struggle to stand, struggle to get a seat, and struggle hardest to board off? The fact is that in Mumbai, the crowd speaks about the efficiency of the local train service. You have a train every two minutes there. It runs fast and it runs on time. No wonder everyone wants to use it! No wonder everyone uses it!
If you call Chennai's bus service very good (I would say it's not bad), then Mumbai's is excellent.
I was not criticizing the Chennai local train service. First of all Chennai is not as huge as Mumbai and hence buses more or less serve the purpose.
But lately coz of the increasing traffic, sooner or later, it wont be possible for people to commute solely by bus. Hence, new local train stations are being constructed. I am sure that in coming years Chennai will also boast of an efficient network of local trains. As of now, the trend is what matters and as far as I can see, the trend is positive.
Nevertheless Mumbai Local IS something to be looked up to.
The only place you really care about is Bangalore! :P
And Sir, how did you forget? It's Bengaluru for you! :P
More than 'no time' to take pics, it is no space to take pics in Mumbai local :D
BTW, Chennai's bus services is better than Mumbai's, so don't get the illusion that Mumbai's bus service is excellent.
Ah, we are on totally opposite sides when it comes to Chennai BS vs. Mumbai BS.
I will tell you why exactly I said that Mumbai's is excellent. In Chennai, the frequency of most buses suck. Say, I am looking for a 23C to go to spensers from IIT. What usually happens is that no bus comes for like 20 minutes, and then two three buses will come in like next five minutes.
I never saw something like this happening in Mumbai. The maximum waiting time at any spot so far has been 15 minutes.
well, the local trains here arent used as much as those in mumbai, still.
even on the MRTS try the peak hour services, u will take back ur post.
I didn't really mean to get into negatives or positives of Chennai! The most positive thing about this city is that it has IIT Madras! :P (and to add to it, the most positive thing about IIT Madras is that it ahs me :P :P )
@Bharath
Ok. May be you are true. I mean afterall, that was my first (and so far last) experience. And to be frank, the purpose of the post was to post my pic :P