Travelling within Mumbai

Local Travel in Mumbai

Mumbai’s black-and-yellow taxis are very inexpensive and a convenient way to get around southern Mumbai; drivers almost always use the meter without prompting. Meru Cabs is a reliable call-ahead taxi service. Game-changing taxi apps in play include Uber (www.uber.com) and Ola (www.olacabs.com); they are good for booking autorickshaws as well.

Mumbai coastal road project

This ambitious infrastructure project has changed the face of the Mumbai coast. A 10-km stretch of the Coastal Road, which, with its undersea tunnel and road built on reclaimed land, helps cut down on travel time in one of the most congested cities in the world. This project is now fully open 24x7 for cars and buses as of August 2025, with Phase 2 work underway toward Kandivali.

The Mumbai Metro

Line 1 of Mumbai’s metro (www.mumbaimetroone.com) opened in 2014. It connects 12 stations in the far northern suburbs to Ghatkopar Station in the east, mostly well away from anywhere of interest to visitors save the growing nightlife hubs of Andheri West and Versova, accessed by DN Nagar and Versova stations, respectively. Line 3 is a 33.5km, 27-station underground line connecting Cuffe Parade south of Colaba, to all the main railway terminals, Bandra and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International (BOM) Airport. This is now fully operational as of October 2025.

Travelling by Rail (Local)

Mumbai’s local railway is aptly nicknamed the “lifeline of the city.” Mumbai is one of the densest cities in the world and the trains are its saving grace, transporting a staggering 7.5 million people per day. Please note, trains can get extremely overcrowded during peak hours.
Mumbai has 3 major train lines that run north and south and there is a brand-new metro line in the northern suburbs as well as a limited monorail line in eastern Mumbai. Tickets can be bought from ticket window of every station.
A Useful Tip: The smart phone application for Mumbai local trains is called ‘M-Indicator’, it’s great, if you have a reliable data connection .