Mumbaikars welcomed its first AC local on December 25, 2017, on Western Line with a lot of enthusiasm. Railway minister Piyush Goyal brought this to Mumbai in order to make the travel easier for many. However, over the last 11 days, commuters have not shown interest in travelling in the AC local. During the proposal, it was expected that around 5 lakh commuters will make use of this service, but sadly, in reality only 9 per cent i.e. 28,871 commuters have used the AC local.
Services which run from Churchgate to Virar have passengers capacity of 5,964 people. In the initial week, around six services operated between December 25, 2017, and December 31, 2017. But from January 1 onwards, 12 services have begun. As per the data provided, around 90 AC local services have operated in the city, but only 27,871 commuters have made use of it, out of 5.3 lakh expected commuters, as per the forecast.
As per the information received, WR earned around ₹12 lakhs by selling 3,779 tickets. Along with this, the railways also slapped fine on 46 commuters for ticketless travelling where WR earned around ₹16,000
On a daily basis, Metro witnesses 4 lakh commuters and in November 2017, Metro did a record of ferrying 1.57cr commuters in one month. Metro offers the services at the same temperature, but charges ₹10 to ₹40. When it comes to AC local, commuters have to pay ₹85 to ₹205.
The above-mentioned data clearly indicates that the pricing of Mumbai AC local needs to be revised. If the service offered can be made affordable and improved, many other Mumbaikars may choose this new form of transport.
What do you have to say about the AC local and this initiative by the government and railways? Tell us in the comment section below.
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