Angry commuters bring AC local to halt at Andheri station over non-functional AC
Visuals from Andheri station
Commuters travelling in the Churchgate-bound AC local pulled the chain and brought it to a halt at Andheri station on Friday morning after the train’s air-conditioning stopped working.
The passengers of some coaches of the Virar-Churchgate local train said they experienced suffocation and sweating due to the non-functioning AC.
“Ever since the local train left Borivali station, we found that the coach was not cooling. Initially we thought that the AC would start soon. But despite crossing few stations on the way, there was no sign of it,” a passenger said.
“Since the doors of the coaches of this particular local have to be kept shut for air-conditioning, there was no ventilation, which led to suffocation and sweating. When it became unbearable, we pulled the chain and made the local stop,” he added.
Recently maintained AC local cancelled again after technical problem. Passengers are saying ACs are not working in 3 coaches. @drmbct @WesternRly @NBTMumbai pic.twitter.com/jFMfNzUrZu
— Damodar vyas (@damuNBT) June 22, 2018
The Western Railway, which operates this AC local, later tweeted that due to the technical glitches in some of the coaches, the train will not operate till the restoration work gets over.
“Due to the technical problem in working of AC in 3 coaches of AC local, the services of AC local has been cancelled today till further repairs. Inconvenience to commuters is highly regretted please (sic),” the WR said in its tweet.
Chief spokesperson of WR, Ravinder Bhakar, said the train operations will start as soon as the technical problems in the three coaches are fixed. “Otherwise, it will remain off for the entire day today,” he said.
WR had also cancelled the AC train service for maintenance work last Friday.
Railways had introduced AC local services on Mumbai’s suburban rail network amid much fanfare in December 2017.
