The Railway budget announced yesterday, as expected, has evoked much debate, some dissension and expert analysis. It is the focus of discussion, only overshadowed of course, by the main budget to be presented tomorrow.

While debate will continue to simmer, we focus on local train travel in Mumbai. It is time the commuters take some of the onus off the railways. The government can formulate policy, present a budget, decide to up or keep the fare stable, and announce new projects allocating funds for them. It is up to the people to keep the stations and the compartments of the train as clean as possible. We see large-scale littering at stations even when there are dustbins. Same is the case with train compartments where commuters often throw rubbish, instead of waiting to alight to put litter into the bin.