Public Transport

Buses

Buses are the most popular means of transport in Mumbai. A major chunk of the population in Mumbai travels by bus daily. The largest network of organized buses is available in Mumbai. With a fleet of double Decker buses and a large number of red single buses, public transportation is never a problem in the city. 

Public transport Bus system is run by a government organization "Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport". Public buses run by the BEST cover almost all parts of the metropolis as well as parts of New Bombay and Thane. Presently, more than 4143 buses are running all over the city with an estimated 450,000 passengers, on daily basis.

Bus facilities provided are Free Travel Facility, Concessional Fare, Reservation of Seats, Front Door Entry, Passenger Refund Claims, Disaster Management and Lost Property Section.

There are buses connecting Mumbai to the suburban areas like Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mira-Bhayanadar. The buses  available in the mumabi city are very crowded runs according to the route. The tickets are provided by a uniformed conductor.  you can find buses  which are operated till midnight and seats reserved for senior citizens, ladies and handicapped persons.

Some features of the BEST's Bus service are:

1)    Bus Route No. 166 - It interconnects roads with all the maximum Hospitals of Mumbai city.
2)    Bus Route No. 161 - This route includes ways of Oil Reservoirs and desolate areas of the city.
3)    Bus Route No. 9 -It covers large number of school and colleges as it is linked by this route.
4)    Bus Route No. 320, 22ltd., 25ltd. - These routes have an stupendous feature to connect the two largest water reservoirs of the city.
5)    Bus Route No. 66Ltd –  You can get special night trips on this bus route.

NMMT- Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport operates its Volvo buses from Navi Mumbai to Bandra, Borivali and Dindoshi. BEST buses provide efficient services in and around the city.

During Peak hours, it is best to get buses from the starting stops so that you do not have to stand the entire journey. Now a day, the destination is written on the front and side of the bus along with the route number. Generally the front is in Hindi and on the side is in English; so it is easy for both the locals as well as the tourists.

General Bus Operation information and In Emergency:

Traffic Control Room/Bus Control Room: +91-22-24137937/ +91-22-24184489  
Ext.801
Toll Free Number: 1800 227 550
E-mail: transport@bestundertaking.com
Website: www.bestundertaking.com

Public Taxi/ Auto Rickshaw

Hiring a taxi is a convenient way of traveling in and around Mumbai. They are small sized cars which are cheap and easily available. The regular taxis are black and yellow in color, with manual meters and without air condition. There are even pre-paid taxis available, which rule out the meter and fix the fare beforehand.

From midnight, till 5 a.m. in the morning, 25 percent extra fares are charged by taxi drivers. Big sized luggage items are charged at Rs 10 each. Before getting into a taxi, ensure that the meter is working properly.

Auto Rickshaw is yet another comfortable means to travel in the city. These are three-wheeler scooters, which can accommodate three people. Apart from Buses, Trains and Taxis, Auto Rickshaws play an important role of public transport in Mumbai. As per the new ruling of the Bombay High Court, all auto rickshaws use CNG as the fuel. These are not available in the downtown areas and operate only beyond Bandra and Sion in the western and central suburbs, respectively. It should be preferred only for short distances, as its speed is very slow.

Public Taxi/Auto Rickshaw Services:

1.    Black and Yellow metered taxis.
2.    Newly introduced Blue Air-conditioned metered taxis.
3.    Radio Taxis: Silver Green run by Meru and Yellow Red by Gold cabs and Black by Mega cabs.
4.    Blue and silver air-conditioned metered taxis known as Cool Cabs.

In case of any complaints a person can inform at any of the following numbers:

RTO – Andheri: +91-22-26319821, +91-22-26366957
RTO – Ghatkopar: +91-22-25115202
RTO – Thane: +91-22-25340474
RTO – Worli: +91-22-25285202, +91-22-24930299
RTO – Tardeo: +91-22-24944600, +91-22-24944601

Mumbai Railways

Founded in 1847, Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest in Asia. Operated by Western Railways and Central Railways of Mumbai, it claims to have the highest passenger density in the world, 6.1 million people daily.

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 a.m. till 1 a.m.

  • Western Railway (WR), running between Churchgate and Virar. On WR the fast train runs as an express until Bandra or Andheri.
  • Central Railway (CR), running between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Karjat and Kasara. The CR shares two stations with the Western line at Parel and Dadar. Its fast train runs as an express to Kalyan, or until its terminus.
  • Harbour Line, running between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Andheri, Thane and Panvel. Harbour Line is a part of Central Railway, and runs a train from CST to Andheri, Thane and Panvel. Its services are slower than other railways.
  • A new line has extended the Harbour Line from Panvel to Karjat.

The trains are termed as slow & fast local. The slow local stops at every station and fast local runs skipping stops until a certain station. The Western Railways and Central Railways introduced ‘Ladies Special’ trains in which all its coaches are reserved for women passengers. And a ‘Semi-Ladies Special’ train with a few coaches reserved for women.

Wondering how much time does the train take to travel from one station to another? Here are the approx distances which may vary from train to train.

  • Harbour Line takes approx 57 minutes from Andheri to Vashi.
  • CST to Panbout 2 hours and 42 minutes for the slow local trains to go from one end to the other i.e from CST to Kasara.
  • CST trains on the hvel on the harbour line takes about 1 hour and 18 minutes. There are 23 stations between CST and Panvel.
  • 28 minutes it takes from Thane to Vashi.
  • It takes roughly aarbour line take approx 42 minutes to reach Andheri station via Wadala Road.
  • The local train takes 1 hour and 40 minutes to travel from Virar to Churchgate and it is barely 13 minutes from Andheri to Bandra Station.


Central Railway
Enquiries: +91-22-2659135
Reservations (8 a.m. to 8 p.m): +91-22-2656565
Trains arrival and departures: 134
Train arrival status (South East Zone): 136
Train arrival status (North East Zone): 137

Western Railway
Reservations: 135
Trains arrivals and departures: 131
Train arrival status Delhi/Ahmedabad/Baroda/Surat: 133

Churchgate, +91-22-22017420
C.S.T, +91-22-22622685
Central Railway C.S.T., +91-22-22620173
Western Railway Central, +91-22-23070197
Thane, +91-22-25375959

Website: www.mrvc.indianrailways.gov.in