If you are a Mumbaikar and commute by train, here is everything you wanted to know to brighten up your day. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that Mumbai’s suburban system will now have 70 local trains with air-conditioned (AC) coaches.
The announcement was made on Thursday when the minister had come to the city to flag off the inaugural run of the Harbour line train services from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Goregaon.
Here is what the minister said after inaugurating the inaugural run of the Harbour line train services: “We are planning to have 70 rakes fitted with three AC coaches. Each of these will have a first class, second and a ladies coach.”
“70 local trains will have three AC coaches. Around 250-300 services will run daily with this combination. The coaches will be reserved for both female and male travellers,” the minister informed while addressing the gathering. The new local trains will have three compartments. All the compartments will be equipped with Air conditioners.
As per the proposed plan, each 12-car fully AC local shall be split into quarters. In other words, the motorman’s cabin and two other coaches of the AC local could be replaced with three coaches of an ordinary train. On the same lines, other residual AC coaches are planned to be attached to three other ordinary trains.
The existing 12-car rakes have ordinary coaches. Three of these ordinary coaches will be removed and replaced with three AC compartments. This decision stems from the fact that the existing 12car AC train is not much in demand.
Moreover, AC trains have been hampering the movement of non-AC trains, thereby becoming a trouble for the non-AC commuters. “It will take 12-15 months to manufacture the partly AC trains,” a senior official of Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said.
Additionally, the minister also informed that two major projects including the elevated corridor between CSMT and Panvel (worth Rs 12,000 crore) and a new corridor between Panvel and Virar (worth Rs 7,100 crore) have also got a nod from the government.
