It was a pleasure to play host to British rail historian, transport expert and broadcaster Christian Wolmar on his visit to Mumbai on 2-3 March 2025 during his whirlwind tour of the city.

On his trip to India, travelling on the trams in Kolkata and on the steam-hauled Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Wolmar’s last stop was Mumbai where on the first day, I took him to travel on all the possible modes of travel, including the monorail, the underground metro, the elevated metro and the suburban railways and was amazed by the variety of public transport, saying that authorities should encourage public transport further. On the second day, we visited the Churchgate heritage museum, a gold mine of archival photographs, relics and much more.

“It is quite sad that Kolkata is shutting down its tramway network. Apparently, the police there are up against it for the hurdles in traffic. But they should keep it for the sheer volume of people that it can ferry vis a vis the motor car,” he said.

“Mumbai is not designed for cars and will never cope with a great influx and the city authorities should not try to accommodate them. The geography of the city is perfect for public transport. Also, I was struck too about how two wheelers have proliferated,” Wolmar said.

After travelling on the various modes of transit, he said it will be helpful when the full metro network is in place and ease commuting woes. “I think that Mumbai is slowly energing into a 21st century city. The new metro line is of a world class standard and will be a source of great pride. I was impressed by the monorail which seemed quite well used,” he added.

“The monorail is the only one in India and is a good idea. But I find it ends abruptly. I runs at good speed and could have been put for a better use for local transit,” he said after travelling from Saat Rasta to GTB Nagar.

“Mumbai’s underground railway is very impressive, being built to a remarkably high standard than most new city metros. I would say it is nearly as good as the new Crossrail or the Elizabeth line. What I find good is that they have created a lot of space. The designs of the Elizabeth line, however, are more elegant,” The Elizabeth line is a railway line that carries passengers across Greater London and nearby towns, running on an east–west axis across the London region, and opened in 2022.

Travelling on the Versova-Ghatkopar Blue Line 1, he said the older trains have been maintained well with the “air-conditioning very good”.

At Andheri suburban railway station, he was overwhelmed by the volume of people travelling by the local railway and stressed they should shut the doors. “Gosh. The doors have to close. Closed-door suburban trains will help save people falling off from crowded trains. It’s great that the suburban trains are being renewed as they are still the backbone of the system,” he added.

The next day his visit to Churchgate heritage building museum was equally interesting. He was fascinated by the numerous old logos of the various smaller gauge railway lines put up on the wall. Equally enthused was he to see the old archival pictures of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway. On th3 current scenario, I futher explained him how the new Pamban Bridge that makes way for ships and the the highest rail bridge at Chenab have been making waves as Indian Railways linked Kaniyakumari to Kashmir and all about Vande Bharat series of trains.

Off track

Goodness! How does one check tickets?
The moment we exit from the Metro “turnastile environment” into the suburban railway station at Andheri, Wolmar says, “Goodness. How does one check tickets of so many people. The sheer scale of the line and the volume of commuters is astounding,” he exclaimed.

Are those railbuffs?
At Sion as we sit for his favorite masala chai at a cafe, he finds a group of people sitting across with steam engines on their T-shirts and politely asks if they are rail enthusiasts. “Look, there is a steam engine on them,” he points out. The ones sitting were MNS party workers sitting at the cafe after their Sunday local cricket tournament.