"Saddened by the way commuters are forced to ride local trains," the Bombay High Court declared.

Given the high rate of commuter fatalities on Mumbai local trains, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday requested affidavits that had been personally reviewed by the Central and Western Railways' general managers. In order to handle this important matter, the court has asked Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas for help.

I apologize for using this word. During the hearing, Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya expressed his sadness at the way in which passengers are forced to commute locally. He hoped that the number of deaths per thousand commuters will drop to less than that of London.
Yatin Jadhav, a resident of Virar who commutes on the Western Railway line every day, filed a Public Interest Litigation, which was being heard by the bench of Chief Justice and Justice Amit Borkar. The plea highlighted systemic issues leading to a high mortality rate of approximately 2,590 deaths per year. The petitioner's lawyer pointed out that data showed about five deaths per day amongst commuters travelling to college or work.

Representing Jadhav, attorney Rohan Shah argued that accidents involving pedestrians crossing railroad rails and people falling off trains were the main causes of these deaths. He pointed out that the Mumbai Local is the second busiest railway network in the world, behind Tokyo, and that, in comparison to New York and London, the death ratio per thousand commuters is 33.8.

"Coming to college or going to work is like going to war, as the fatalities are more than the number of soldiers dying in active duty," Shah stated.

Additionally, he contended that despite the railways' introduction of AC trains with closed doors, low-income passengers continue to take non-AC trains since AC train tickets are pricey. Shah made it clear that the ability, which was earlier shared by 10 non-AC trains, is now being managed by 8 non-AC trains, as 2 out of the 10 have been converted to AC trains.