They are the arteries that keep Mumbai’s economy ticking, rattling 6 million people a day to offices, shops and factories. But arriving safe and sound for work after a trip on Mumbai’s clogged railways is no mean feat.

On average 4,000 people die a year on Mumbai’s railways, crushed under trains, electrocuted by overhead power lines or killed as they lean from jam-packed carriages to gasp for air. It is perhaps the world’s deadliest commute.

The crush to board is so bad commuters take trains in the wrong direction so they can grab seats when they turn around.

Fatal accidents are so common that stations stock sheets to cover corpses.

Authorities say the ongoing network upgrade will improve matters, but commuters are sceptical.

“Plans are always made, but nothing really happens,” said Bidisha Mukherjee, a young commuter. “If they want to do something, it had better be quick.”

It is positive to note that revenues from India’s rapid economic growth are starting to be turned into updating infrastructure left over from the colonial past. Hopefully, this will be accomplished in a timely fashion – and might even include removing a layer or two of corruption at the same time.