The Western Railway (WR) will be adding 22 more services from January 2019. Not only that, it will also add two more trains of 15 cars each. The addition is expected to increase the passenger capacity by 33 per cent.
The WR authorities, in the first phase, will procure two rakes that will enable them to operate 15-car trains running 22 services. This service will be added to the existing 1,365 services, which have been revised since November 1.
These new 15-car trains will be operated on the Virar-Andheri section, which is heavily crowded with over 25 lakh commuters travelling on a daily basis. Only 15 to 20 per cent of the 37 lakh commuters use the Andheri to Churchgate route.
Currently, four 15-car trains run 54 services between Churchgate and Dahanu. The services start from Churchgate, Dadar and Andheri stations.
"In the first phase, we will add 22 services of 15-car that will operate on Andheri-Virar corridor. This will depend on the rolling stock that will be needed," said Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), Western Railway.
WR will also start work on extending the platforms between Andheri and Virar stations in order to make them operational for slow trains as well. They will begin work from Virar first for extension of platforms and shifting of signals.
Sources said that even if work at Virar gets completed, they can add two more 15-car rakes that can add 20 additional services on the Andheri-Virar section.
FOR EASY TRAVEL
- Deadline for extension of platforms on Andheri-Virar section is Dec 2019
- WR authorities say that adding more 15-car trains will lessen the crowd in trains
