The revenue for the double-decker air-conditioned train from Mumbai to Madgaon has not earned the railways more than 34 per cent of its actual expected revenue, since it’s re-launch by Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu in December 2015.
The train is turning out to be one of Railway’s biggest mistakes in terms of investment as it was removed from service and shelved in March 2015. The train was introduced in August 2014. In fact, according to the records with the railways, the train has only been able to earn 34 per cent on its Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) to Madgoan trips since the three months it has been running again and just 27 per cent revenue of the total expected revenue of around '7,80,000. A railway official said that they are yet to understand the reason behind this. “Both the Central and Konkan Railways have been trying to make this train a success but we are yet to ascertain why commuters are not favouring this train,” he said.
The train has registered an average of 35 per cent occupancy while travelling to Mumbai and 45 per cent while heading towards Madgaon, with a total of 637 seats in the train, said the official. “Some of the feedback we have received is that since the train is a chair-car and does not have any berths to lie down, commuters feel that their journey is uncomfortable,” added the official.
Some officials also claimed that the schedule of the train is not convenient as a result of which commuters would prefer using the Jan Shatabdi, Konkan Kanya, Flying Rani and Manglore Express as most of the travel time is during the night.
