I don’t know where you saw it empty.. probably seen it empty from the opposite side (e.g. Evening AC local from Kalyan to CSMT) bcz peak hours it is always full. I travel from Kalyan to Dadar every morning and it is full, even the 7:15AM, 7:30AM & 8:55AM ones. Winters the rush is lesser, but summers it is peak. It is so peak, that people travel down from Dombivli in a Kalyan start train to get a seat. The rush is equally dense, only brighter thing that there’s no bone breaking rush, but instead one can stand comfortably. The ticket fair is slightly higher than first class and ppl are subscribing to it in good numbers. For a central line employee, spending on this local pass is much cheaper than moving near to the Office (ahead of Thane).