Don't give us jugaad AC locals: Western Railways tells Centre

"Don't give us 'jugaad' air-conditioned (AC) locals," Western Railways authorities have told their higher-ups in New Delhi, with an official letter to that effect to be written soon. The ire comes after the railway body discovered many glitches in the existing local.

The main bone of contention is that the assembled unit is riddled with errors which would be easier to resolve if the entire rake and systems within it were made by one agency. This would also make complaint redressal smoother, feel WR authorities. "We want that the next AC train to be manufactured as a single unit, rather than being assembled," said a WR official.

Authorities say the local, which runs 12 services a day, consumes a lot of time. For instance, where a regular rake halts at stations for 15 to 20 seconds, an AC local stops for about 40-45 seconds due to the additional time needed for automatic doors to open and shut.

There have been complaints of doors not closing, and temperature fluctuations. Apart from this, WR authorities want some changes within the coaches, such as compartment and vestibule floors to be at the same level, and the vestibule floors to be firmer. Also, they want a small pathway on the roof so that the technical staff can climb up to repair cooling units.

On July 17, 18, Member of Rolling Stock Ravindra Gupta — who is in charge of all trains and its coaches across Indian Railways — discussed about AC locals with officials in Mumbai.

"We know about the issues with the AC local," said Ravindra Gupta, Member (Rolling Stock), Railway Board. "These are teething troubles. We have asked manufacturers to ensure that these mistakes are not repeated in the new rakes."

Indian Railways has planned 39 fully air-conditioned 12-car rakes on both Western and Central lines. These shall be divided to comprise six AC coaches and six non-AC ones.

Additionally, Railways has decided to add nine AC rakes to the existing AC local running on the Churchgate-Virar route by March 2019. They will also place an order for another three AC rakes so that ender the MUTP-3A project, Mumbai will have a total of 210 AC locals at a cost of Rs 17,374 crore.

One-Unit Solution

Bone of contention is that the assembled unit is riddled with errors which will be easy to resolve if the entire rake were made by one agency as one unit. This would also make complaint redressal smoother.