The Trains: Hong Kong v/s Mumbai

Trains are perhaps the most important means of transport in both Hong Kong and Mumbai. People from both cities use trains almost every day of their lives and one can only imagine what a day without trains in either Hong Kong or Mumbai would be like.



A map showing all 85 MTR Stations

Hong Kong’s railway system is called the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). The MTR has a total of 85 stations, all of which are connected to each other. If you want to go clubbing, shopping, sightseeing or even to work; the MTR is the most cost-effective and quickest way to travel. I’ve travelled on the New York City Subway and the Tokyo Metro on a number of occasions but none of these matches the MTR. The MTR is my most preferred mode of transport in Hong Kong



The reason I had to travel by train in Mumbai (I am the bald one)

Once I had started going to college the only mode of transport I needed to use in Mumbai were taxis. My journey started at Cuffe Parade, a posh South Mumbai locality, and ended at Churchgate. A couple of weeks after college begun a group of us had to make a documentary for a sociology assignment. I didn’t have many friends at the time and decided to join a group with one of my friends, Mridushman. As the date of submission drew closer I was asked to go to Mridushman’s house for a project meeting, little did I know what was coming.

My maiden train journey in Mumbai

The day I dreaded most had arrived, I was about to travel on a Mumbai local train. After calling Mridushman twenty times, I made my way to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. I bought a “first-class” ticket to some odd place called Vashi, a township in Navi Mumbai, and boarded my train. I was greeted, on my first ever train journey, by a drunk old man and when I disembarked at Vashi I looked to the heavens. I made a vow to never travel on a Mumbai local again; of course that vow was quickly broken.





 

Inside the MTR




Inside a Mumbai Local Train

Verdict: Mumbai’s trains have their own “brand image” in Mumbai, but in my eyes the trains in Mumbai are no match compared to the MTR.