Matunga Road ( aːʈuŋɡaːstation code:MRU) is the name of a railway station on the Western Line of the

Mumbai Suburban Railway The Mumbai Suburban Railway ( Marathi: मुंबई उपनगरीय रेल्वे) (colloquially called local trains or simply locals) consists of exclusive inner suburban railway lines augmented by commuter rail on main lines ser ...

network. It offers access to

Matunga Matunga (Marathi pronunciation: aːʈuŋɡaː is a locality in the heart of Mumbai City towards downtown Mumbai. It is serviced by the Matunga Road station on the Western line, Matunga station on the Central Line and King's Circle station on ...

and

Shivaji Park Shivaji Park, officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, is a public park situated in Dadar, Mumbai. It is the largest park in the island city. Similar but bigger in size to Azad Maidan and August Kranti Maidan (formerly Gowalia Tank Grounds ...

areas of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. It should not be confused with the nearby

Matunga railway station Matunga is a railway station on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It should not be confused with the nearby Matunga Road railway station on the Western Line. As per the Limca Book of Records 2018, Matunga is the first r ...

, which is on the Central Line just to the east. Matunga Road is one of the smallest railway halt in

in terms of number of passengers and number of platforms. The

Ruparel College Doongasree Gangji Ruparel College of Arts, Science and Commerce, known as Ruparel College, is an undergraduate college in Matunga, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is run by the Modern Education Society, Pune and is affiliated with the University ...

is the nearest college to this station. Fast local trains between Churchgate and Virar do not stop at Matunga Road station. It has been documented as the first suburban station on Western Railway to be run by all-women staff.

Events

Western Railway on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

2018, stepped in to make one of its railway station Matunga Road to be run by all women staff. Western Railway posted a total of 31 women staffers as frontline staff, comprising Commercial, Operating and Security departments. It includes 13 Commercial clerks and 3 Ticket checking staff to undertake commercial activities, whereas 11 Operating staff (Station Master and Points person) and 4

Railway Protection Force Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection ...

personnel. These handle overall operations of Matunga Road station round the clock as of 2018. In addition to this, Western Railway also collaborated with Rotary Club of Bombay Queen for beautification of Matunga Road station in 2018. The theme-based painting work depicting the diversified role and emergence of women in the Society has been planned across the Booking offices, Station Superintendent office and Foot over Bridges. With this, Matunga Road became the first such station on the Western Railway and the second suburban railway station in Mumbai to be operated only by women.

Incidents

At 1.40pm on 29 October 1993 a "crude bomb with lots of nails" exploded under the seat of a second-class compartment in a train at Matunga Road station. 2 people died and 40 were injured. Matunga train bomb blast

Matunga Road was one of the stations affected by

11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts on 11 July. They took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capit ...

. Just before 18.15, a bomb exploded in the first-class general compartment of the 17.57 Churchgate-Virar fast train as the train was passing Matunga Road station on the fast line. There was no damage to the station. A memorial plaque stands at the north end of the station today.

Notes and references

{{Mumbai - Suburban Railway, Western Railway stations opened in 1867 Mumbai WR railway division Railway stations in Mumbai City district Mumbai Suburban Railway stations