Railway statistics showed that between April 1, 2016 and March 20, 2017, CR's suburban network carried 1484.90 million passengers and WR carried 1234.47 million passengers.
As the financial year 2016-17 drew to a close, both Western and Central Railway's suburban network showed an increase in passengers when compared to the financial year 2015-16.
Railway statistics showed that between April 1, 2016 and March 20, 2017, CR's suburban network carried 1484.90 million passengers and WR carried 1234.47 million passengers. The combined passenger load on the two systems of 2719.37 million passengers is a whopping 2.24 times the population of India as per the 2011 Census. The 2011 Census put the population of India at 1210.19 million people.
Both CR and WR showed an increase in passenger load when compared to last year, with CR clocking 3.78 percent more passengers and WR increasing its passenger load by 2.32 percent.
"It just goes on to show that this city desperately needs all the metro lines currently being talked about because for the sake of passenger comfort, it is time that the passenger load on the two suburban systems start coming down. We are overcrowded and the increase in passengers is actually nothing to write home about," agreed a top railway official.
Overall, the seven suburban systems in the country carried 4447 million passengers, an increase of 2.5 percent from the 4338.68 million passengers carried in 2015-16.
The passenger load on long-distance trains of both CR and WR however showed a fall. CR's non-suburban segment saw a drop in passengers from 227.90 million to 225.70 million. WR;s passenger load also took a dip from 334.70 million passengers in 2015-16 to 327.06 million passengers in the current financial year.
"We have to study why the number of long-distance passengers have fallen. It is too early to say whether airlines are taking away some of the passenger load in reserved coaches. However over the next decade the chances of airlines taking away a sizable chunk of railway passengers cannot be ruled out," explained an official.
Overall passenger load of CR and WR (suburban and long-distance)
CR- increased 3.14 percent from 1658.54 million (2015-16) to 1710.60 million (2016-17)
WR- increased 1.32 percent from 1541.20 million (2015-16) to 1561.53 million (2016-17)
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