Western Railway Panel Will Recommend Partial AC Rakes for General Coaches in Mumbai Locals

The Western Railway Board has instituted a six-member committee to suggest the most appropriate combinations for partial AC rakes that will also have general class compartments. As of now, a 12-car AC rake has two sets of six coaches, though it doesn’t include first or general classes.

General Manager of Western Railway, Alok Kansal said that the committee is currently deliberating on the matter and will submit its recommendations soon. 

The committee will consist of the Chief Electrical Engineer of Western and Central Railway, the Chief Commercial Manager (passenger marketing) of Central Railway, the Chief Passenger Traffic Manager at WR, the Chief Design Engineer of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), and an official from the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation.

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WR started AC locals in December 2017 between Churchgate and Virar. It is said that approximately 20,000 people used the 12 AC services each day. 

It runs only 12 services with two rakes despite having six AC rakes. This is because replacing the existing non-AC trains may outrage daily passengers on general class. 

“Partial AC locals will not have first-class compartments. First-class passengers may have to upgrade their first-class season tickets to AC class,” Kansal added.

Meanwhile, an unnamed WR official said, “We are of the view that semi-AC locals can be run in a combination of 9 non-AC plus 3 AC (12 cars) and 9 non-AC plus 6 AC (15 cars).”

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WR will reportedly run 15-car AC locals on the slow corridor after the platform extension works between Andheri-Virar is concluded. As per current estimates, works will be completed by the 31st of March. 

Some officials have raised concerns that adding semi-AC locals may lead to trains becoming less punctual. 

“A non-AC local has a wait time of around 15 to 20 seconds. But for AC locals the wait time at stations could increase to 45 seconds as the train can run only after the doors are closed,” a railway official said.

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