Local trains are the most effective way of traveling within the city. The extensive suburban rail network runs on three linear routes —Western Line, Central Line, and Harbor Line (along the eastern coast). The Western Line runs from Churchgate to Virar, covering stations along the city’s Western Suburbs. Likewise the Central Line operates from CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to Kalyan. Some trains go beyond city limits to places further on like Karjat. Dadar is the common station where people change from Central to Western and vice-versa.
The Harbour Line is by far the least used. Services are not as frequent on this line. Starting from CST, it branches off into two at Vadala station. The main line covers the Eastern Suburbs and leads further on to Navi Mumbai. Kurla station is the interchange point of this line with the Central Line. The second branch of the Harbour line leads to Mahim on the Western Line.
The train service closes for barely 3 hours, from 1 am to 4 am. Newcomers to Mumbai should try and avoid rush hours between 8 to 10.30 am and 5.30 to 7.30 pm.
A word of caution: take extra care of your belongings while travelling by train as pick pocketing is very common!
