Central Railway enhances comfort with 10 new AC locals in Mumbai

Central Railway (CR) is gearing up to enhance commuter comfort by introducing 10 additional air-conditioned (AC) local services, replacing non-AC services on slow corridors starting from November 6. This initiative will raise the daily count of AC local services to 66. However, the total number of suburban services on CR's Mumbai Division will remain unchanged at 1810.The new AC services, operational from Monday to Saturday, will exclude Sundays and designated holidays. These services will originate or terminate at prominent stations such as CSMT, Parel, Kalyan, Ambernath, or Dombivli. During peak morning hours, a service will depart from Kalyan at 7.16 am, arriving at CSMT at 8.45 am. Another service before noon will leave Kalyan at 10.25 am, reaching CSMT at 11.54 am. In the evening peak hours, a service will depart from Parel to Dombivli at 4.01 pm, and there will be services departing from Parel to Kalyan at 6.40 pm and 9.39 pm.This move follows CR's introduction of AC services on the main line in August 2022, which replaced non-AC services with 10 new AC services. Despite the demand for AC services, some commuters remain cautious due to issues like punctuality problems and sudden cancellations caused by technical faults in the train cars.In a 2022 online survey, 66% of the 37,000 respondents expressed their willingness to switch to AC coaches if regular AC services were available across Central Railway and Western Railway. CR officials have reassured passengers that dedicated teams are available 24/7 to assist with any issues, and traffic plans have been communicated in advance through various social media channels, minimising potential commuter inconvenience.