Rs60 crore high-speed train gathering dust for a year

Mumbai’s dream high-speed local is gathering dust at the Mumbai Central railway car shed. Exactly a year after the Integral Coach Factory delivered the Rs60-crore high-speed train bogies, the nine-car train is covered with thick layers of dust and debris at the car shed.

The delay in the testing and approval of the train has also held up the production of five to six more such trains which would help in faster conversion of the Kalyan-CSTM section to alternating current. Till the reports of the tests go to the Integral Coach Factory, the other local trains will not be delivered. Officials said they were working on the project and studying the report.

The nine-car train, now split into six with three cars for trials, has been filled with bags of sand and debris. The train was tested with the bags of sand and debris on it and then parked in a corner of the Mumbai Central car shed. “The bags were equal to the weight of a crowded train. Trials were being held till some months ago, but now the train has been standing there,” an official at the car shed told DNA.

Sources said a couple of months ago, three coaches of the rakes were spotted undergoing tests on the Virar-Dahanu Road section of the WR.

After that it is back to status quo. The coaches have returned to the car shed and continue to gather dust.

Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) managing director Rakesh Saksena told DNA that the project was on and that the reports of the train were being studied by the MRVC and the Research and Design Standards Organisation in Lucknow.

“There are limitations of such high speeds within the city, but it is easily possible outside the city limits. The tracks too need to be equipped to cater to such speeds,” an MRVC official said.

The train was in fact expected to arrive earlier, but a crucial component went missing at the last moment which delayed its delivery. The bogie frames and technology has been bought from Siemens, Austria. “They have bolster-less suspensions which will give commuters a jerk-free ride and improve the riding conditions of Mumbai trains,” the official said. 

The new train is being procured under the Rs4,500 crore World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project. MRVC is coordinating the project. While the train looks similar to other trains, it is the train’s high-speed bogie (wheel sets) that will make all the difference. The train can clock a speed of 130kmph.