The Western Railway (WR) will conduct trial runs of 18-coach suburban trains on the Virar–Dahanu route on January 14 and 15. These will be the first tests of such long local trains by Indian Railways. The trials will focus on safety features like Emergency Braking Distance (EBD) and coupler forces.
Before the trials begin, the coaches will be modified to meet standards for speed, stability, and oscillation. Interestingly, these tests are experimental and do not indicate that 18-coach local trains will start immediately in Mumbai.
The tests are part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). The state government was shown a plan last September to explore longer suburban train formations. The project proposes spending around INR 21,000 crore to procure 2,856 carriages.
These carriages will mainly be used to form 238 air-conditioned local trains, each with 12 coaches. The infrastructure will be gradually upgraded to support longer formations, including extending platforms, strengthening tracks, and improving signalling systems.
The Virar–Dahanu route was chosen for the trials because it allows faster, uninterrupted runs. Western Railway has been asked to make sure the rakes are ready and loaded properly. The trial results will be closely monitored, as they will guide future deployment of 18-coach locals on the Western Railway corridor.
Rakes built by Bombardier and Medha Electrics will be used for testing. Bombardier rakes will be tested at speeds up to 110 kmph, while Medha Electric rakes will run at a maximum of 105 kmph.
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