17 August,2016 08:10 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
As mid-day had reported earlier, the new AC train is too tall to pass under some of Central Railway’s older bridges, so it may be given to Western Railway instead
Central Railway was so close to becoming the coolest line in town, but seems to have been beaten by Western Railway once again.
Also Read: Mumbai's first AC train too tall for British-era bridges
The AC rake is currently at the Kurla carshed, where it awaits further improvements before trial runs begin
After CR went to great lengths to score Mumbai's first ever AC local train and make it ready for trial runs, it now turns out that the new rake might go to WR instead. The main reason for this, as mid-day had pointed out earlier, is that several of CR's bridges that were built in the British-era are too low to accommodate the taller AC rake.
"There is a likelihood of the train going to WR as it does not fit in the dimensions on CR. The height of the train is more than what can be run on CR. However, the final word will come from the Railway Ministry in Delhi. At present, our main concern is to run the train," said A Agrawal, general Manager, CR.
Read Story: Mumbai: Major glitch in AC train puts Central Railway in the hot seat
The two railway agencies have been battling for ages over who gets the first AC rake. WR being the more advanced line, it usually gets all the new technology, while CR makes do with the old hand-me-downs. However, when it came to the AC train, CR officials dug in their heels and insisted that they should get it first (âCentral derails Western AC plan', mid-day, March 18).
But there was twist in the tale last month, after CR officials suddenly realised that the train might not be able to run on the Central line anyway, because it would not fit under some of the low-hanging bridges towards south Mumbai.
The latest development in this stalemate came on August 14, when Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu took stock of the various projects in Mumbai. Sources said that Prabhu asked about the status of the AC local as well.
Officials explained that the AC rake was simply too tall to pass under the British-era ROBs at Matunga, Currey Road, Byculla and Sandhurst Road. "The AC rake is taller than the regular local trains. This AC rake cannot pass under the ROBs and come all the way till CST, which is a matter of concern," said a senior CR official.
Also Read: How Cool! First AC local train reaches Mumbai
While the rake itself of standard proportions, it is the cooling units on top that add half a foot to the height, taking it to 4.3 metres. This leaves barely 3-5 cm between the top of the trains and the base of the bridge, which could be risky.
Solutions attempted
CR then tried to chip away 10 mm from the overhead AC units, but the attempt failed. When the authorities realised that the rake would probably never run on the main line to CST, they decided to run it on the Thane-Vashi Trans Harbour route. But officials agreed that this route wouldn't generate enough demand for AC services.
