Western Railways’ AC local may get more halts

  • | Tuesday | 25th September, 2018

The AC local spends around 60 seconds at each halt as opposed to 20 seconds of a regular local. The air-conditioned local may soon be available to more people as Western Railway (WR) has proposed to increase the number of halts. WR may get one more AC rake in the next three to four months, but there are no plans for the train yet. The local currently halts at Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivali, Bhayander, Vasai and Virar. Since the AC local was introduced the number of people using it has grown steadily, and this will provide another boost,” said Subhash Gupta, President of Rail Yatri Parishad.

more-in The air-conditioned local may soon be available to more people as Western Railway (WR) has proposed to increase the number of halts. The local currently halts at Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivali, Bhayander, Vasai and Virar. If the proposal is deemed feasible, it will come into effect on November 1. The proposed halts have been planned along the lines of the existing Virar fast locals, at Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Dahisar, Mira Road, Naigaon and Nalasopara. “It has been a long-standing demand of commuters to increase the number of halts. We plan to readjust the timings of the locals that follow the AC rake in order to ensure that there's no impact on the punctuality of regular services,” a senior railway officer said. Passengers are happy with the proposal. “If they manage to add more stops it will be a very good thing as it will benefit more passengers. Since the AC local was introduced the number of people using it has grown steadily, and this will provide another boost,” said Subhash Gupta, President of Rail Yatri Parishad. WR may get one more AC rake in the next three to four months, but there are no plans for the train yet. Senior railway officials said they have not been given a formal date of arrival of the rake and said they would require at least four months to rework the schedule to ensure the introduction of a new rake does not affect the system. In all likelihood, the new rake will also be introduced at the cost of an existing path of a regular local as there is little to no space to increase services in Mumbai. Moreover, due to the additional time taken for the AC rakes’ door closing mechanism, the new rake will not be introduced on the slow corridor. The AC local spends around 60 seconds at each halt as opposed to 20 seconds of a regular local. “On the fast track since the halts are fewer, the train has some scope of making up the additional time. However, this will not be possible on the slow corridor,” a senior official said.

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