11,974 unaccompanied children found on Mumbai railway premises in over 5 years, 99% reunited with their families

Mumbai: The evening rush hour at any bustling railway station is a blur of commuters, noise, and moving trains. But in February 2025, four sharp-eyed policewomen noticed something at Kalyan station that did not fit the rhythm of the usual evening peak-hour rush commute: a teenage girl alone on a foot overbridge sobbing uncontrollably.Constables Tare, Mane, Sane, and assistant sub-inspector Ingavle rushed to her side, gently calmed her down, and offered her food. The 16-year-old finally told them that she had fled her home in Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh and boarded a train to Mumbai. But once she arrived here, the sheer, crushing scale of the metropolis left her overwhelmed.The policewomen managed to get her father’s phone number and placed a call.

Relieved to find out that his daughter was safe, the father told that that he had filed a kidnapping complaint in Fatehpur, when he couldn’t locate her. The teenager was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), who then processed her case further.Between January 2021 and April 2026, a staggering 11,974 unaccompanied minors were found on railway premises in Mumbai. Railway police data reveals that 11,835 of these children— an incredible 99%— were eventually reunited with their parents.

In fact, in nearly half of the cases (5,736) children were handed over to their guardians at police stations itself.Data further showed that around 67% of the unaccompanied minors found on railway premises were boys. In addition to runaway or lost children, police also rescued children engaged in begging or child labour.So, what drives thousands of minors to board trains from all corners of the country to Mumbai?“Youngsters are drawn here by several factors,” a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer explained.

“Many are attracted by Mumbai’s glamour, while others arrive looking for work to support their families back home due to poor economic conditions. Some run away after clashes with their parents over grades or excessive smartphone use, and then there are those who have eloped.”These children view rail travel as an easy option, believing they can hide in plain sight among the crowds or find refuge near the stations. But for some, the illusion shatters the moment they step off the train.

Landing at chaotic termini like CSMT, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, or Mumbai Central Terminus, they could get paralyzed by the crowd, with no idea where to go next. It is critical that these unaccompanied minors do not become victims of child traffickers.The Railways have put together a Standard Operating Procedure for the safety of unaccompanied minors. Within 24 hours of such a child being found at a railway station, police are required to produce him/her before the CWC.

Major railway stations and termini feature child-friendly helpdesks manned by trained members of non-profit groups.Last month, railway police received a tip-off from a social worker about more than a dozen children travelling on their own in three coaches of Asansol-Mumbai Express. Security agencies were alerted at Itarsi, Bhopal, Aurangabad, and Kalyan. Though initial searches yielded nothing, the vigilance paid off when seven children were finally spotted inside a coach at Thane station.

Some had come to see relatives, some for sightseeing, and others for employment.

These children were safely escorted to the CWC at Ulhasnagar.As Mumbai’s railway infrastructure is evolving, security agencies are facing new challenges. With the frequency of air-conditioned local trains gradually increasing, railway police are coming across instances of children accidentally boarding the closed-door trains and getting separated from their parents who are left behind on the platform.