Mumbai local trains: 13 more AC local services added to Western Railway

Starting today, Western Railway will add 13 air-conditioned (AC) services to its daily timetable, six of them Churchgate-bound and seven Virar-bound. These services, which will replace some non-AC services, will take the total number of AC services to 109 from the current 96 being operated daily. On weekends, the number of AC services will go up to 65, from 52.

The 13 services were added after a new air-conditioned train was inducted into the suburban railway fleet on November 20, taking the total number of AC trains to eight. Of the new services, 10 have been added to the Fast line and 3 on the Slow line. On November 27, the new AC train will depart from Churchgate at 12.34 pm.

“We will be operating four AC local train services during the morning and evening peak hours when demand is high. These will ply on the Bhayandar-Churchgate and Virar-Churchgate routes in the morning peak hours, and on the Andheri-Virar and Bandra-Bhayandar routes during evening peak hours. This should ease crowding inside AC local trains,” said a senior WR official.

Vineet Abhishek, Chief PRO, Western Railway said there has been a substantial rise in the number of commuters travelling by AC local trains, which is why new services have been added.

On November 20, Hindustan Times reported the introduction of a new AC train to the WR’s fleet. It will bring relief to at least 1.25 lakh daily commuters, of the total 28-30 lakh commuters on the WR. Under MUTP, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation will procure an additional 238 AC locals for Mumbai, which will gradually replace all non-AC trains.