We like this race and urge that one catch up with the other. The Central Railway (CR) has surged ahead of Western Railway (WR) in installing onboard safety systems in Mumbai’s local trains, achieving 100 per cent CCTV camera and emergency talk-back (ETB) coverage in all ladies’ coaches, a feat that WR is yet to accomplish.

Yet, even with the Central Railway stealing a march over its Western counterpart, both facilities continue to lag significantly in equipping general coaches, where the majority of Mumbaikars commute, with these installations, as per data available with mid-day. CCTV footage is, of course, crucial for investigations, while ETBs enable passengers to directly communicate with the train motorman in case of emergencies.