Mumbai's first air-conditioned suburban train unveiled

The Indian Railways unveiled its first air-conditioned suburban train for Mumbai on December 25, 2017. The first AC local service operated on the Western Railway route between Andheri and Churchgate. The train was flagged-off from Andheri at 2.10 p.m. and reached its destination at 2.44 p.m.

A ride on Mumbai's first AC local costs 1.3 times the cost of a first class one-way regular ticket. Other than that, weekly, fortnightly and monthly passes are priced 5, 7.5 and 10 times the fare of regular first class tickets respectively. 5% GST and other charges will be extra.

The Railways plans to operate twelve daily services, out of which, eight will operate on the Churchgate-Virar route, three between Churchgate and Borivali and a slow service between Mahalaxmi and Borivali. Initially, six return services will be operated on all weekdays, while weekends have been earmarked for scheduled maintenance. 

The 12-coach rake was built in Chennai at a cost of Rs. 54 crore and it was bought to Mumbai on April 4, 2016. Since then, 65 trial runs have been carried out. Initially, it was supposed to operate on the Central Railway but was later assigned to Western Railway. The provisions for AC locals for Mumbai were first made in the Railway Budget of 2012-13.

Source: The Economic Times