Western Railway (WR) is all set to introduce 13 additional air-conditioned (AC) train services on its suburban network starting Wednesday (November 27), operating throughout the week, an official announced on Tuesday. These new AC services will replace an equal number of existing non-AC trains on the busy routes, WR said in a statement.
With the addition of these 13 new services, the total number of AC trains on WR’s suburban network will increase from 96 to 109 on weekdays, and from 52 to 65 on weekends. Despite this increase in AC services, the total number of suburban services will remain unchanged at 1,406, including the 109 AC services, the release added.
Western Railway’s 128 km suburban network
Western Railway’s suburban network, which spans 128 kilometers from Churchgate in south Mumbai to Dahanu in Palghar district, serves around 35 lakh commuters daily.
Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of WR, explained, “There has been a substantial rise in the number of commuters travelling by AC local trains. So, for the benefit of passengers and to ease crowd, 13 more AC services are being augmented by replacing existing non-AC 12-car services.”
6 AC trains to operate in Up, 7 in Down direction
The first of the new AC trains will depart from Churchgate in south Mumbai at 12:34 pm on November 27, with the remaining services following their scheduled timings. Of the 13 new services, six will operate in the Up direction and seven in the Down direction.
In the Up direction, there will be two services each between Virar-Churchgate and Bhayandar-Churchgate, along with one each between Virar-Bandra and Bhayandar-Andheri. In the Down direction, two services will run between Churchgate-Virar, with one each on routes from Churchgate-Bhayandar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Bhayandar, Mahalaxmi-Borivali, and Borivali-Bhayandar.
Western Railway: AC Local Train Timings (Up Trains)
- Bhayandar to Churchgate: Departure – 08:24 hrs | Arrival – 09:27 hrs
- Virar to Churchgate: Departure – 11:00 hrs | Arrival – 12:27 hrs
- Virar to Churchgate: Departure – 14:05 hrs | Arrival – 15:28 hrs
- Bhayandar to Andheri: Departure – 16:45 hrs | Arrival – 17:15 hrs
- Virar to Bandra: Departure – 18:30 hrs | Arrival – 19:44 hrs
- Bhayandar to Churchgate: Departure – 21:15 hrs | Arrival – 22:21 hrs
Western Railway: AC Local Train Timings (Down Trains)
- Mahalaxmi to Borivali: Departure – 06:39 hrs | Arrival – 07:34 hrs
- Borivali to Bhayandar: Departure – 07:37 hrs | Arrival – 07:52 hrs
- Churchgate to Virar: Departure – 09:30 hrs | Arrival – 10:52 hrs
- Churchgate to Virar: Departure – 12:34 hrs | Arrival – 13:59 hrs
- Churchgate to Bhayandar: Departure – 15:32 hrs | Arrival – 16:35 hrs
- Andheri to Virar: Departure – 17:25 hrs | Arrival – 18:20 hrs
- Bandra to Bhayandar: Departure – 19:52 hrs | Arrival – 20:43 hrs