Central Railway has idle AC local train, Western Railway passengers want it to run from Bhayandar

AC local train passing through Bandra on October 13. File pic/Ashish Raje

Give us the AC train, if not using it. Western Railway's official passenger committee association member has urged the railway authorities to commission the new AC local train that arrived on Central Railway (CR) a few weeks ago as it is still not being put in use. AC local commuters at Bhayandar on Monday petitioned Western Railway (WR) against the withdrawal of the new AC local, stating it had alleviated the crowding issue for them.

"One new AC rake has arrived on CR and has not been operative. So I have requested the railway authorities to please give it to Western Railway as there is huge demand in Western Railway. I have appealed to the local railway officials and the ministry of railways not to fall prey to political pressure and get the train for WR," Rajiv Singal, member, Western Railway Mumbai's Divisional Railway Users' Consultative Committee, said.

"We have trains. Let's not waste them. Every prime minister irrespective of any party announces to make Mumbai a world-class city but when it comes to groundwork, the politics begins. Let us not succumb to it," he added.

It was after a long gap of over two years that the CR received an air-conditioned local train in November end. It is a hi-tech completely 12-car walk-through train, freshly manufactured with under-slung electrical equipment. The hi-tech train, based on the Train 18 Vande Bharat model, doesn't take up much space for its electricals and other equipment as it is under-slung, making more space available for passenger seating.

This is the seventh rake for the CR. As of today, the CR Mumbai division has a total of six rakes with five of them in service operating 66 services. The WR also received a new AC train in November and it now has nine trains and operates 109 trips from November 27.

However, despite the arrival of the new train, there has been no increase in AC services on CR.

Refuting the allegation that the new train is not being used, a CR official said that the train is being used to regularise AC services on Saturdays and weekends. "There were complaints as to why AC trains are not used during the weekends. The new train is used then when other trains are taken in for maintenance. The new rake is needed to avoid cancellation of AC trains on Saturdays and Sundays," a CR spokesperson added.

Commuters petition WR

"AC train commuters at Bhayandar on Monday petitioned the Western Railway not to cancel the new 8.24 am AC local train as it was already saturated and full, which indicated it was the need of the hour. The protests were political and we required the train. You can come down to Bhayandar in the morning and see. For regular commuters, a non-AC train has now been increased to 15-cars," commuter Jayesh Thakkar said. Another commuter Vipul Mody said, "A local was converted into AC following our demands and we request WR not to revert it back to a regular train."

Bus fare on Atal Setu slashed

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) has slashed the fares of buses on two bus routes that take the Atal Setu and connect Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, making them the cheapest public transport bus service to operate between the two cities.

The fare of the bus on route 116 Mantralaya to Nerul is now at Rs 105 (down from Rs 230) and that of route 117 Mantralaya to Kharghar Sector 35 till Jalvayu Vihar is now at Rs 120 (down from Rs 270).

"I got to know about the fare reduction through word of mouth. While it is appreciated that NMMT has finally reduced the fares, it is surprising that nowhere this information was given by NMMT. It was only after I verified with the NMMT control centre that I got to know about the reduction in fare," regular commuter Advocate Arindam Mahapatra said.

Six
No of AC rakes CR has