Mumbai can finally chug to work in cool comfort, from eagerly awaited AC train to Harbour line extension and much more...
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Air-conditioned local train right up to Virar
The new year is just beginning, but the railways has already delivered on the first of its gifts for Mumbai, with the launch of the AC local. The new AC rake made its maiden journey on Christmas Day, as promised by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. From January 1, it will run the entire course from Virar to Churchgate and will make 12 trips a day.
The Rs 54-crore train, capable of running at 110kmph, arrived in Mumbai more than a year ago, but had been cooling its heels due to several rounds of tests and trials to iron out all technical glitches. The rake has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai with electrical equipment from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The existing BHEL EMU local trains that run in Mumbai have been facing problems, raising doubts about the fitness of the AC local. With a carrying capacity of about 6,000 passengers, the train was initially supposed to run on the Central Railway, but ran into problems owing to the low height of the bridges on the line. It was then shifted to the Western Railway (WR) in May 2017. The WR was supposed to launch it earlier this year, but there were snags. The Indian Railways' Research, Development and Standards Organisation (RDSO) conducted the final trials.
The WR will operate 12 services during peak hours starting from January 1. The AC local operates on the Churchgate-Virar route and will have 10 halts. The halts are at Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Goregaon, Borivli, Bhayander, Vasai Road and Virar. The AC local does not have a luggage compartment, and three compartments are reserved for women.
Harbour Line to Goregaon
The opening of a new hub - Goregaon Harbour Terminus - in a month or so will allow direct CSMT-Goregaon and Panvel-Goregaon trains and decongest Andheri station. "The line has been completed and will be up for safety trials and approvals by the commissioner of railway safety. It will be available to the public in 2018," a senior Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) official said.
It will help Harbour line commuters who want to reach stations till Goregaon without having to make the switch at Andheri. Currently, Harbour line commuters who want to go to Jogeshwari or Ram Mandir stations have to get off at Andheri and switch to the Western Line trains. With this line in place, it will also allow Panvel-Goregaon direct trains via Wadala, linking Navi Mumbai and the western suburbs. Currently, 37 local WR services and 52 local CR services terminate at Andheri on the Harbour line. After the extension of the track up to Goregaon, most of these services will also be extended.
With WR's 5th and 6th lines still under process, these new lines that are ready will help WR boost capacity. CST-Goregaon direct trains on the harbour line will help commuters from both Central and Western Railways. The Andheri-Goregaon extension on Harbour line is a part of MUTP II. The line cost the railway Rs 103 crore. Around five to seven lakh commuters will benefit from the extension daily, and it will also help decongest other stations such as Andheri and Vile Parle that have among the highest footfalls on WR.
Matheran Hill Railway
The Matheran Hill Railway will operate on the complete stretch between Neral and Matheran by March 2018. The Central Railway is re-laying the entire track between Neral and Matheran, upgrading locomotives and redrafting safety parameters to revive it, and plans to start full services by March 2018. The railway line that was opened in 1907 is already on the tentative UNESCO world heritage list and once it opens, trains will run at 13kmph.
Issues with train
"The toy train line had a number of issues and did not adhere to railway safety standards. The tracks were embedded in the soil, there were landslide-prone spots and several other problems along the stretch. After two derailments, we decided to take up safety work at a rapid pace. That was the reason we decided to shut down the line in 2016 completely and upgrade it," Central Railway's chief safety officer Shubhranshu (he has no second name) said.Though facing losses, the railways are investing about Rs 18 crore to upgrade the line, and new locomotives were being manufactured at the Parel workshop to improve the services.
"The line has sharp curves and steep gradients. Besides strengthening rail tracks, the new work includes building gabion walls, retaining walls and crash barriers so that there are multiple layers of protection for the train. The old locomotives have been upgraded with digitised controls and double the horse power. Earlier, the loco used to have 306HP and the new ones have 650 HP. These have been equipped with air brakes against the earlier hand-operated brakes," he added.
Neral to Aman Lodge
The Central Railways opened a 2-km stretch between Aman Lodge and Matheran last month. The CR has completed work on 723 metres of gabion walls, 1.5km of crash barriers and 513 metres of retaining walls. "We intend to complete the work in a few months and throw open the line for passengers. After these, these will not be any derailments and even in an unfortunate event, the crash barriers and retaining walls will protect the train," he added.
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