Mumbai plans prestige maglev train to combat overcrowding

India's financial capital, Mumbai, is considering a £3.75bn futuristic magnetic levitation high-speed train network as a part of a radical overhaul of the infrastructure of the city whose transport system is bursting at the seams.

The Maharashtra state government wants up to six maglev routes, of between 16 to 30 miles, linking the port city to the suburbs. The role model appears to be Shanghai's maglev train, which links the Chinese city's underground with the international airport and runs at up to 268mph.

Mumbai's railways were boycotted only last week by thousands of commuters because of the "deadly" overcrowding. Passenger groups say that on average every square metre of railway carriage accommodates 17 people on each trip.

The situation is likely to worsen as Mumbai's population doubles in 10 years or so to 30 million people. Experts say the city will have to spread beyond its island.

"I think the money is not an issue, neither is the technology. The problem here is whether Mumbai is ready for the kind of expansion envisaged. Maglev is a good start but we need more innovative thinking," said Hafeez Contractor, an architect who advised the government.

Maglev trains, which are lifted by magnetism to leave a small gap between them and the elevated track, have a spotty record. In Japan the expected exorbitant costs meant plans to build a maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka hit the buffers. And critics of Shanghai's maglev train say it haemorrhages money and the high speeds cannot be justified over short distances.

In India many say the prestige project would divert precious resources. "Half of Mumbai lives in slums with no sewers," said Sheila Patel, of Sparc, a group which works with the city's poor. "The city has begun to suffer power shortages for the first time in living memory. These are base infrastructure problems that we have to deal with. I cannot see how spending money on high-speed trains is a good idea in the circumstances."