MUMBAI: Three years later locals with air conditioning started in the western line, the railroad board has granted approval to start local ACs on the main line, between CSMT and Kalyan. Services are likely to begin this week.
Central Railway executed its first air-conditioned premises on the trans-port line connecting Thane to Panvel on January 30. However, fearing the anger of the passengers, he had avoided running the AC train on the main line and the port line, as the services would have been at the cost of regular non-AC services.
A senior CR official said: “We will run 10 services between CSMT and Kalyan. Of these, at least two will be in the morning and afternoon rush hours. Services can start this week.”
Another official said that while the tentative plan is ready, the path and schedule for these services have yet to be formalized. “The train can run six days a week, except Sundays.”
AC’s first location arrived in Mumbai in February 2016, but began operating on the Western Railway suburban network between Churchgate and Virar on December 25, 2017.
Explaining the rationale behind AC’s premises on the main line, an official said that although 90% of suburban trains were back on track, long-distance train services were still not operating at full power. “We now have scope to run additional AC trains without upsetting regular commuters.”
The air-conditioned train fare will be 1.3 times the fare for first class travel. The minimum fare will be Rs 65 and the maximum Rs 220 for a single ticket trip.
A CR official said the decision to operate air-conditioned trains on the port line will be made at a later stage.
.
