9-car trains on Western Railway will soon be a thing of the past

It is nearly the end for the nine-car suburban trains on Western Railway (WR).

With the railways announcing conversion of more nine-car trains to 12-car ones on Wednesday, there are just about 20 nine-car trains that remain on WR. Now the WR plans to convert the remaining nine-cars to make all their trains 12-cars as early as possible. 

“We will be converting 32 services from 9 to 12-car trains from November 14. Of these 32 services, 22 are between Borivli and Churchgate, six between Andheri and Churchgate, one each between Borivli and Mahalaxmi and Malad and Churchgate and 2 between Churchgate and Bandra,” said Sharat Chandrayan, Western Railway chief spokesperson.   

The Western Railway has a fleet of 76 trains; of these, 55 are 12-car, 20 nine-car and one 15-car.    

“Increasing the number of 12-car trains is an important step towards increasing the carrying capacity of the network without congesting it. And this has had a significant impact on the crowding in trains too. There has been a 56% increase in 12-car services in past three years as compared to the six per cent increase in suburban passengers during the same period,” Chandrayan explained.  

The 60-km stretch of Churchgate to Virar on the Western Railway is in a transition mode with many lines and stations being upgraded. Its power supply is also being stepped up from the obsolete direct current to alternating current which will save power and increase the speed of trains. 

Even as this is happening the railways is receiving about four to five new trains every month under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). 

“We are trying to keep pace as new trains are coming in and will be upgrading the lines and other related infrastructure too. We will also be converting the harbour line platforms on the WR beyond Andheri into 12-car ones,” Chandrayan said.