Cr looking to expedite increasing 15 car local trains in mumbai

Cr looking to expedite increasing 15 car local trains in mumbai

Mumbai: Central Railway (CR) is looking to expedite the process of increasing the number of 15-car rakes on the Mumbai suburban network, days after four people died and 10 were injured when two overcrowded 12-car trains crossed each other at a curve near Mumbra railway station.

CR’s long-term plan is to operate all fast-line services with 15-car trains, officials said. For this to happen, various works, including the extension of platforms, the addition of new rail lines, and the addition of coaches to existing 12-car trains, are in different stages of implementation, officials added.

Currently, CR operates only 22 15-car services, all on the CSMT-Kalyan fast corridor. In contrast, Western Railway (WR) runs over 210 15-car services on both slow and fast corridors. WR has steadily expanded its 15-car network, running 97 trains on fast lines and 114 on slow corridors on the Andheri-Virar route.

CR had proposed converting 12-car trains to 15-car trains at a cost of ₹900 crore back in 2018. The push for longer trains gained urgency in 2015 when the Railway Board directed both CR and WR to draft action plans after viral videos showed passengers falling off overcrowded trains.

However, this has not happened at the desired speed. CR engineers claimed one reason behind the delay was that every time a 15-car train needs to switch rail lines, it takes 1.5-2.5 minutes, which affects the train’s punctuality. There is also an argument that 15-car rakes would reduce train speeds from 100 kmph to 90 kmph.

The tragic accident on June 9 in Mumbra has exacerbated the need for longer trains on the CR suburban network. However, officials clarified that the plan to have more 15-car rakes has been in place for quite a few months now. “There are around 250-270 train services operating on the fast lines on the CSMT-Kasara/Karjat route. Our aim is to run them as 15-car trains, which will augment carrying capacity. However, this will take time as there are several factors that need to be addressed,” said a CR official.

Initially, more services will be added on the CSMT-Kalyan route, officials said. In the future, there are plans to remodel the Kalyan rail yard and station, add three to four rail lines on the Kalyan-Badlapur and Kalyan-Asangaon corridors, and get more train coaches to convert 12-car rakes to 15-car rakes.