After waiting for long, Mumbaikars had got AC local on December 25 last year. And now, Western Railway has planned to increase the speed of the air-conditioned local train from 70 kmph to 90 kmph.
The railways had written to the Commissioner of Railway Safety seeking his permission regarding increasing the speed of the AC train between Mumbai Central and Borivli, as the tracks, according to them, are fit enough to handle higher speed.
It is to be noted that increasing the speed would not change much as far as running time is concerned, as seven new halts would be introduced on its route from November 1.
Confirming the development, a senior railway official said, “The AC train will now halt at seven more stations including Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Dahisar, Mira Road, Naigaon and Nalasopara.”
He said, “Increasing the speed of the train is a part of the process of improving its punctuality. This is because, at every halt, the train has to wait for a longer period of time than a normal local train due to the extra 50 seconds that the automatic doors take to open and close. The Western Railway is also working on enhancing the movement of the doors.”
The Air-Conditioned local train was introduced on Western Railway’s suburban route on December 25, 2017. While it has a sitting capacity of 1,028 passengers, it can accommodate a total of 5,964 people. With two vestibuled coaches, the AC local’s capacity is three times more than a regular 12-coach local train.