Mumbai Local Trains: Indian Railways is likely to introduce trains with both AC and non AC coaches in Mumbai’s suburban network! The decision is being taken due to resistance from commuters towards higher ticket prices. At present, two fully AC local trains run on the suburban network across Mumbai. Chairman Railway Board VK Yadav was quoted in a PTI report saying that after the two AC local train services were introduced by Western Railway and Central Railway zones for Mumbai’s suburban network, discussions by stakeholders have revealed that there is some opposition to the AC local trains as there is a resistance towards higher ticket prices.
According to Yadav, the local population is opposing the fully air-conditioned local train services, citing the expense factor. The negotiations are ongoing and Indian Railways is planning to come up with a combination of six AC coaches and six non AC coaches or a combination of three AC coaches and nine non AC coaches in a single train rake. He further added that five fully AC train local trains are already ready with the national transporter. The city’s AC local train with state-of-the-art security features is equipped with an automatic door closing system, fire fighting system, talk back system and many other modern facilities.
The first AC local train of Indian Railways ran in the city of Mumbai on 25 December 2017 under the Western Railway zone. The train is operated between Borivali and Churchgate. Initially, as an introductory offer, the ticket price for a single journey on the AC local train was 1.2 times that of the same journey in the first class. However, with effect from 1 June 2019, 1.3 times the base fare of the existing single journey of first class ticket was decided by Indian Railways. The Central Railway zone of Indian Railways launched its first AC local train service between Mumbai’s Panvel and Thane on 30 January 2020.