Officials unsure about future of AC trains
The meeting will continue until Friday and some clarify is expected to come in by then.
Mumbai: Mumbai and Delhi officials have reached a dead end over the future of AC trains and how to go about it, in an ongoing meeting in Rail Bhavan, said officials.
The meeting that is on since Wednesday afternoon has seen opposing views from railway officials from Delhi and Mumbai, as the former has asked the latter to try the ‘mix and match’ formula by which two to three AC coaches will be attached to non-AC local trains and will run along with the exclusive AC trains.
This has not gone down very well with Mumbai officials who have said that this will not be technically feasible and will incur unnecessary costs and have instead asked the ministry that the AC and non-AC be kept separate from each other.
The Mumbai officials feel that mix and match will be a huge mistake because of the technical liabilities and money spend for the same that will cost more than the current AC rake that costed Rs 56 crore. An official said, “It is technically not feasible to run nine coaches of a non A.C. and threw coaches of A.C. because these three coaches will cause massive delays and affect the entire train as a whole.”
He further added, “In the meeting at Delhi too, this is the main contention and we are of the opinion that the electrical equipment of the train will be so complicated and unpredictable that it will lead to a continuous stalling of the train. This will lead to severe reactions from the commuters.
The meeting will continue until Friday and some clarify is expected to come in by then.