Mumbai: Ek hi vishesh local or AC-vishesh-tez local?

Commuters inside an AC train at CSMT. File pic/Ashish Raje

Garbled and mumbled announcements about AC locals on Central Railway have been leading to confusion among commuters, including last minute platform changes. Commuters have called for legible communication for better clarity.

"I just switched trains at Dadar," said commuter Ravikant Kadam. "The WR announcements for AC locals are clear and concise but those on CR are confusing and unclear, which leads to problems for commuters."

The problem

On CR, while announcing the arrival of AC trains on the platform, the station announcement in all three languages eats up the word "AC" and mentions a "special train", which commuters are unable to understand immediately. On WR, the announcements are categorical and clear that an "AC train" is arriving.

Blame it on computers?

Another commuter who often uses Ghatkopar station, Anjali Shah, said the words get jumbled up possibly because they are computerised. "Can't CR do one thing right? Can't the babus not hear once what they have created before putting it out in public domain. No one seems to be bothered about commuters," said Shah.

Commuter Dhimant Rana said a simple fix would be to just mention the arrival of an AC local instead of burdening commuters with extra information.

"Why can't they just say an "AC local" is arriving instead of all the unnecessary details? AC train commuters are premium customers and the railways should be more careful about them, but all we get is this," said Rana. "AC local commuters have so many basic demands, including punctuality of the train and regular ticket checking, but none is taken seriously by railways. Also, there is a requirement for more AC trains. This applies to the harbour line also."

‘We'll fix it'

Railway officials told mid-day the error will be rectified. Regarding ticket checking, officials said regular checks are conducted as per schedule. About additional services, they said, at present there are no additional services planned as the entire system is saturated and even if new rakes come in, AC trains can be added only as a replacement for existing services.

Political hot potato

AC local trains on CR have become a political issue since August 2022 with NCP president Sharad Pawar calling for their complete withdrawal from the city and restoration of regular services for working-class commuters.

In August 2022, after protests from commuters who illegally board local trains from Kalwa carshed, and also those from Badlapur, against the new AC local services led by NCP leader Jitendra Awhad, the Central Railway had withdrawn ten new AC services within five days of their introduction.