Thane: A sari-clad woman hangs dangerously out of a packed ladies’ compartment of a CSMT-bound suburban train as it negotiates the notorious curve between Diva and Mumbra on Central Railway’s slow corridor. The viral video has once again exposed the perilous reality of Thane’s female passengers as the video showed the train passing the very spot where five people died after falling off overcrowded trains last year.For lakhs of suburban women travelling, the footage was less a shock than a grim reflection of their daily commute which revived painful memories of Dombivli commuters Riya Rajgore and Savita Naik, who lost their lives after falling from overcrowded trains on the Dombivli-Kopar-Diva stretch in recent years.Railway records showed that as many as 180 commuters have fallen off trains on the Thane-Diva section alone in 2026, with nearly 35 per cent—around 66 people—dying. Activists said the toll is only the visible part of the crisis, as countless women who lose their footing while boarding or alighting suffer minor injuries that go unreported.“Every day, thousands of women board already packed trains from Kalyan, Dombivli, Diva and beyond. Many are forced to stand on the footboard because there is simply no space inside. During peak hours, it becomes a choice between risking your life or risking your job,” said Dombivli-based commuter activist Lata Arghade.Commuter groups said overcrowding has worsened on trains originating from Karjat and Kasara routes, while the capacity reserved for women has failed to keep pace with rising ridership. Women continue to get barely a quarter of the available space despite constituting a significant share of suburban commuters.“For women travelling from the Thane suburbs, the difference between reaching home safely and becoming another statistic is often just a few inches of footboard space. Are we waiting for another major tragedy before corrective action is taken?” asked commuter activist Vandana Sonawane.Central Railway officials said they have begun upgrading 12-coach services to 15-coach trains on the corridor and plan more such conversions.
