AC local for Mumbai gets green signal

The Railway Ministry has given “in principle” clearance for design, procurement and operation of an air-conditioned train on Mumbai’s suburban routes as a pilot project.

The Railway Ministry has given “in principle” clearance for design, procurement and operation of an air-conditioned train on Mumbai’s suburban routes as a pilot project.

The clearance, accorded recently, has come after much deliberation on whether to involve private players for the project. “It has now been decided that Railways would execute the pilot project of operating an AC train on Mumbai suburban,” Railway Board Member (Traffic) V N Mathur told The Sunday Express.

The move, prompted by the realisation that Mumbai would get its own Metro by 2009, is essentially aimed at exploring and tapping the “executive class traveller” who wouldn’t mind paying a little extra to travel in comfort. Railways, which currently make losses on Mumbai Suburban due to low ticket rates, are also hoping to rake in some revenue if the pilot project succeeds.

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With capacity augmentation work on the suburban routes also set for a quantum leap with the completion of various phases of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), Railways feel that running AC local trains on dedicated tracks and routes would be a possibility in five year’s time.

Rail Bhavan is now in the process of approaching its Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in Lucknow to design AC coaches which can be run on a suburban network. “The challenge is to design a coach which can accommodate suburban rush hour traffic and provide air-conditioning without compromising on space and safety,” a senior Railway Board official said. Getting a brand new AC rake is likely to cost Railways anything between Rs 30-50 crore.

Exploring the option of retrofitting existing EMU coaches with ACs, RDSO, while designing the new coaches, would also be tasked with examining the concept of an “air-curtain” at the entry/exit points of these coaches so as to keep them air-conditioned even if the door is not closed. Anticipating resistance and sabotage attempts on the new AC train, Railways are looking at designing coaches with features like unbreakable glasses.

For the record, Mumbai’s suburban railway networks carries close to 6.5 million commuters per day.