Few interested in Central Railway’s ‘experiment’ of running 10 local CA services between CSMT and Kalyan

The central Railway(CR) to replace ten regular local train services between CSMT and Kalyan air-conditioned has had a good reception. On Thursday, Day 1 of the six-day-a-week pilot plan for CR’s busiest suburban corridor, only 20 tickets and two monthly season tickets were sold at 8.15pm.

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, CR’s network of 1,580 suburban trains carries 6.5 lakh people on average every day. Each venue has capacity for 700 travelers, again taking into account Covid-19 regulations.

Shivaji Sutar, CR director of public relations, played down the poor response. “It was only the first day. We hope that more travelers will take these trains. The schedule has been crafted so that CA trains accommodate all stations in the slow corridor between CSMT and Kalyan, ”he said.

But the associations of travelers and passengers differed from Sutar’s opinion. They warned that unless the CR changes course, low occupancy will continue to plague this initiative.

PHOTO: DEEPAK TURBHEKAR

AC’s services, like other venues during the pandemic, are open to only a select category of travelers: essential workers, as well as people with disabilities, cancer patients, women who commute to work, and attorneys during restricted hours.

Manoher Shelar of the Suburban Passenger Association urged the railroads and state government to open services to the general public.

Sanket Chavan, a 36-year-old systems engineer traveling from Dombivali to the Bandra-Kurla Complex, also said that all office goers should be able to board these trains. “I spend 4,000 rupees a month and waste hours traveling by road. If travelers like me are allowed to take air-conditioned trains, it will also help decongest the roads. It will be a win-win situation, “he said.

Some passengers, like Shyam Rahane, a 34-year-old resident of Dombivali, asked to increase the frequency of the trains, especially during rush hours, confident that it will encourage a good number of people to give air conditioning services a chance at despite the slope. price of tickets.

There is only one AC train from Dombivali to CSMT during the morning rush hours and one from CSMT to Kalyan at night. Trains without air conditioning in these two sections receive large crowds during rush hours. “I am glad that the CA trains have finally reached the main line of the Czech Republic, but the current plan of the authorities needs an evaluation,” said Rahane.

Thakurli resident Rajesh Singh, 40, said that given the higher fares for air-conditioned trains, “pleasure-only rovers” would lose these services. In such a scenario, he said, there will be no risk of crowding inside the trains.

Transportation expert Vaibhav Das agreed. Noting that the pandemic has changed the way we travel and the need to do so, he asked rail and state authorities to reflect the new patterns in their policies.

The Central Railroad had launched 16 Local AC services between Thane and Vashi and Thane and Panvel stations on the trans-port corridor in January, but had to be shelved after the closure was imposed.

Outer station train passengers can take locals to get to stns

The Ministry of Railways approved the state’s request to allow long-distance train passengers to travel on suburban services in Mumbai to reach their boarding points, but with certain passengers. Only passengers with a confirmed valid ticket for an external station train will be able to purchase a one-way local train ticket and can board a local ticket up to 6 hours before their departure time. The same rules apply to arrivals.