Long-pending changes planned for Harbour Line, including special compart-ments reserved for men, finally in works
The Harbour line is gearing up for a series of much-awaited changes. Firstly, the Central Railway (CR) is mulling over introducing a “gents coach” in the evening ladies special train that runs daily on the Trans-Harbour line. Secondly, new rakes are expected to replace the old ones starting March 2016.
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The Thane-Vashi Trans-Harbour line operates 210 train services every day, catering to nearly two lakh commuters. The CR operates four ladies special trains on this line two during morning rush hour and two in the evening.
Since the Railways received feedback about sections of the ladies special going empty, especially in the evening, the idea to introduce men’s-only compartments has been mooted.
Women commuters, on the other hand, were complaining about male passengers hopping into the ladies special citing excuses, including that the next train arrives a good 20 minutes later.
“We are working out ways to tackle the problem. One solution we are considering is to reserve three coaches for men in the 12-car ladies special train that runs in the evenings,” said a CR official. With the introduction of these special coaches for men, GC in a Mumbai local may henceforth have two meanings: General Compartment or Gents Compartment.
Meanwhile, old rakes running the Harbour line will soon be replaced, following long-pending complaints from commuters on the CST-Panvel line. The CR authorities are likely to start receiving the Siemens rakes from the Western Railway starting March 2016.
This change is being introduced as part of the process of power conversion on the Harbour line from 1,500-volt DC to 25,000-volt AC. The Harbour line runs 36 old rakes on 1,500-volt DC. With the Siemens rakes coming in, the process of power conversion will be finally complete.
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