Mumbai: Will AC locals ever be part of daily transport?

The future of AC locals thriving in Mumbai depends on Mumbaikars. The rail authorities in city are struggling to convince the Railway Board for approving air conditioned locals to be procured under Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3. This is because the existing AC local is not used to its capacity --- 1,300 commuters use it in a single service as against 4,000 people on a regular train's single service. The status comes in at a time when Western Railway is expected to get their second AC local in January.

The new set of 47 AC rakes is expected to be procured under MUTP 3 for which meetings are being held in Delhi. Similarly 210 AC rakes are being procured under MUTP 3A. 

"We are having continuous meetings with the Railway Board over the same issue. However, they are questioning if the existing AC local is a success and if people are using it," said a senior Railway official.

Both these projects are being implemented by Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation. "We hope that more people travel in AC local. Only then we can convince the Railway Board to approve AC locals," said an official from MRVC. 

At present, 22 lakh plus commuters use the AC local. The second air-conditioned (AC) local train is expected to arrive in Mumbai by January 2019. 

On September 21 yhe Western Railway general manager A.K. Gupta announced that the chances of increasing AC services will be high, as the WR would have two AC rakes. There are chances that AC services may be extended on the weekend, provided there is demand for this. 

AK Gupta, General Manager, Western Railway said, "We are expecting the new AC rake in the next four to five months. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is supplying some equipment for the rake. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is manufacturing the coach. We are hopeful that the second new AC rake will come by January 2019.” 

At present, the WR runs 12 AC services from Monday to Friday. There have been complaints about door closure and AC in the current rake as far as maintenance is concerned. Every rake takes two days for maintenance. The WR authorities have also decided to give halt at more stations.

STATE OF AFFAIRS

The existing AC local is not used by commuters to its capacity — 1,300 commuters use it in a single service as against 4,000 people on a regular train’s single service. The status comes in at a time when WR is expected to get their second AC local in January, 2019

The new set of 47 AC rakes is expected to be procured under MUTP 3 for which meetings are being held in Delhi. Similarly, 210 AC rakes are being procured under MUTP 3A

At present, WR runs 12 AC services from Monday to Friday.  There have been a few complaints. The WR authorities have also decided to have more halts for AC local trains

The rail authorities in city are struggling to convince the Railway Board for approving air conditioned local trains to be procured under Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 as soon as possible