Railway Network
The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest in Asia, it was founded in 1867. It is owned by Indian Railways and is operated by Western Railways and Central Railways. With a length of 303 km, It has highest passenger density in the world, 6.3 million people daily. Which is more than half of Indian Railways daily carrying capacity utilized by Mumbai. It has three lines: the Western Line, the Central Line, and the Harbour Line.
These suburban trains are popularly known as Locals and they run from 4 AM till 1 AM. Mumbai suburban services have various such designations (not all of them official, but in wide use). A 'fast' train or 'fast local' is essentially one that is fast (runs express, skipping stops) until a certain station, and from that station onwards runs like a local, e.g., the Virar Fast runs express to Borivli, and then from there on is a local. The Karjat Fast is an express until Kalyan. The Ambarnath Fast Local goes CST - Dadar - Thane and thereafter stops at all stations on its route. The Borivli Fast Local used to run (1980s) from Jogeshwari to Mumbai Central non-stop.
The term 'superfast local' is sometimes used too, e.g., for trains that skip stations to reach Virar early in the down direction so they are available earlier to carry more passengers in the up direction later. On WR (Western Railway) lines, the term 'fast' train is often applied to one that runs as an express until Bandra or Andheri. A 'double-fast' is one that runs as an express for an even longer stretch compared to the 'fast' services.
On CR (Central Railway) lines, the term 'fast' train is often applied to any train that runs as an express to Kalyan, or until its terminus. There used to be a Kalyan Fast that ran non-stop from Ghatkopar to Bombay VT (now CST). The term 'semi-fast' is sometimes applied to trains that run express until Thane. The term 'bada-fast' (Hindi 'bada'= big) was used for services running express between Borivli - Bandra - Marine Lines, and is sometimes synonymous with 'double-fast'. The term 'triple-fast' has been reported (from a long time back) for express services between Dahisar and Marine Lines.
In 1992, Mumbai's WR and CR introduced 'Ladies Special' trains. A 'Complete Ladies Special' train has all its coaches reserved for women passengers. A 'Semi-Ladies Special' is a train with a few (e.g., 3) coaches reserved for women. These designations can be combined with 'fast', 'slow', etc., so you have terms such as 'Slow Complete Ladies Special', 'Semi-Fast Semi-Ladies', etc.
Read more about this topic: Public Transport In Mumbai
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