Beginners of the Mumbai Commuter Trains

Our first India adventure was getting from our hotel near the airport to Mumbai proper. The front desk insisted that Tuk Tuk* to Commuter Train was the way to go.  The Tuk Tuk part was easy- just get in the three wheeled vehicle and pray that a larger vehicle doesn’t crush it. The commuter train part was a little more difficult.

Before leaving the hotel I did my due diligence- I asked if it was easy to get tickets, if we got them in advance or on board, how frequently the trains ran, if we should get 1^st or 2^nd class tickets, and where the platform was. To the last question, the guy responded “Platform 689”. Didn’t strike me as weird at the time.

We successfully got tickets, then it was just a matter of finding our train. Here’s what we were up against:

So having the info in English is only helpful if the categories are also in English. Which of those numbers was the track?

Once we figured out it was platform 6, we encountered the next problem—where is platform 6?

Now the way we found platform 6 involved lots of aimless wandering and asking people who lead us in many different directions, but the answer is that platform 6 is under construction and you can’t access it unless you walk a quarter mile down the tracks to the point where it starts. I’m not sure how long it’s been under construction but clearly long enough that they don’t bother to list it on the signs.

So it turns out (I realized hours later) that when the guy said “Platform 689” what he meant was “Platform 6, which is hidden and unlabeled but you can find it by going to platforms 8 or 9”.

*yes, they called them Tuk Tuk's even though that's the Thai word for them meaning "cheap cheap". Apparently this isn't an India-wide thing bc my friend who frequents Delhi thought it was hilarious.