Central Railway and Western Railway get new Mumbai local trains after four years

The news local trains

After a long wait of about four years, both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) are receiving new Mumbai local trains, the officials said on Tuesday.

While WR is getting an AC local train with the hope of increasing services, CR is receiving a non-AC regular local train, which will mostly be used to replace older trains on the Harbour Line.

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"We have received a non-AC local train, which will mostly be used to replace the older train in use on the Harbour Line. There will be no new services, but it will be used as a replacement," a CR official said.

"For WR, an AC suburban rake has been dispatched from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, but we have yet to finalise any details about service upgrades for the AC rakes. Our team is working on it," a WR official said.

Following demands from commuters, Western Railway had sought more AC local trains from the Railway Board. After this, it was decided to allot eight new underslung AC rakes in the financial years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. Of the eight 12-car AC locals, four have been allotted to WR as the first priority, and one each to Eastern Railway, headquartered in Kolkata, and Southern Railway, headquartered in Chennai, as second and third priorities, respectively. WR currently operates 96 AC services with seven AC trains.

There is no immediate update about any new AC services or trains allotted to Central Railway, as there has been opposition from commuters. AC 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 the restoration of regular services for working-class commuters.