CR’s first AC local arrives in Mumbai, to start ferrying passengers from Jan 2020
CR is currently training over 100 staffers on operating the AC local and consulting with passenger representatives to decide the route on which it should be deployed (Picture Courtesy: Abhimanyu Sheth/Rajendra B. Aklekar)
After a long wait, commuters on Central Railway’s (CR) suburban network will finally be able to travel in an air-conditioned local like the one on Western Railway.
The first suburban AC local was introduced on WR in December 2017. Since launch, its popularity among the masses has only soared, especially considering Mumbai’s hot and humid weather conditions.
Now, after a wait for nearly two years, the first air-conditioned local for CR has finally arrived in the city and officials are confident of commissioning it for public use by January 2020. The rake is currently stationed at the Kurla car shed.
“We received the first AC local in our fleet on Monday. The work of modifications, including electrical fitments, will be finished in a month, after which it will be commissioned,” CR’s Mumbai Divisional Railway Manager Shalabh Goel said.
Over 100 staffers are being trained to operate the AC local, even as the final route on which it will be deployed is being finalised.
“We are consulting with passenger representatives on which route it should be deployed,” he added.
The current rake is the first of the six AC locals being procured for CR. The second AC rake is expected to arrive by March 2020 and the remaining four by the end of next year.
The first of the six Air-Conditioned EMU train on @Central_Railway at Kurla. Its features in pictures. pic.twitter.com/qEcG4RgAy0
— Rajendra B. Aklekar (@rajtoday) December 10, 2019
About Central Railway’s new AC local
Built at a cost of Rs 54 crore, CR’s AC local has no general or first-class compartments and has a capacity to carry 6,000 passengers.
The rake boasts of an ‘Emergency Talk Back’ system for passengers to communicate with the train’s guard, a GPS-based passenger information system, a passenger alarm system, an LED head code display among others.
For passenger comfort, the train is equipped with two 15-ton roof-mounted AC package units in each coach, a secondary air suspension, ergonomically designed stainless steel passenger seats, LED lighting and more.
