A video circulating widely on social media platform X has brought renewed attention to the severe crowding at Mumbai’s Andheri Railway Station during rush hours. The clip shows platforms overflowing with passengers, leaving little space to move safely. In the footage, commuters can be seen sprinting across foot overbridges and, alarmingly, stepping onto railway tracks in a frantic attempt to catch their trains. These scenes underline the daily risks faced by lakhs of suburban rail users, especially when sudden platform changes are announced without adequate warning, pushing people into dangerous and chaotic situations.
The chaos is largely linked to a 30-day mega block currently underway on the Western Railway corridor for the construction of the sixth rail line between Kandivali and Borivali. The block, which started in the final week of December, is set to continue until January 18, 2026. As a result, train operations have been significantly altered. Commuters have voiced anger over poor crowd control, questioning why sufficient Railway Protection Force personnel are not deployed. Many have accused railway authorities of ignoring passenger safety during peak-hour disruptions.
The ongoing infrastructure work includes track realignment and major signalling upgrades, which have severely impacted suburban train frequency. At the height of the block, officials have cancelled between 200 and 350 local services every day, drastically reducing capacity on an already overloaded network. Busy stations like Andheri and Borivali have borne the brunt, with delays at these junctions triggering knock-on effects across multiple routes. The situation has worsened due to frequent, last-minute platform reallocations, leaving passengers confused and scrambling to adjust at the last moment.
Commuter anxiety has intensified as several fast locals and Mail or Express trains have been short-terminated at stations such as Vasai Road, disrupting both daily travel and long-distance journeys. Although Western Railway maintains that the sixth line will ease congestion in the long term, the current phase has raised serious safety concerns. Visuals of people running on tracks at Andheri highlight how unpredictable services and poor communication can push commuters into life-threatening behaviour within Mumbai’s suburban rail system.