Friday blues: Out of order cooling halts AC train

Mumbai: The air-conditioned (AC) local train services on the Western Railway (WR) line were cancelled Friday morning, as the AC unit was not functioning properly in one of the 12 coaches. A few passengers pulled the chain at Andheri station and complained about the lack of cooling. A week ago, AC local services were cancelled, ostensibly for maintenance work after completion of 180 days since the launch on December 25, 2017.

“Six services were suspended Friday. The AC services resumed in the evening after the issue was fixed,” said Sanjay Mishra, DRM of Mumbai division. A senior officer of WR said after the AC train had departed from Borivali station at 7.54 am the AC malfunctioned in one of the coaches. Owing to failure, the temperature went up and passengers started feeling suffocated.Therefore, they pull-ed the alarm chain.  “Western Railway workers boarded the coach at Andheri to repair the AC. One AC system services three coaches of the rake. The problem was only in one coach. But, to fix the malfunction the workers had to check all three coaches. However, passengers did not allow them, and the train was taken to the yard after reaching Churchgate,” he said.

A malfunctioning air-conditioner, which led to passengers suffocating in an Air Conditioned (AC) local train coach, derailed the AC services Friday morning.

During the peak hours, an average of 300 passengers travel in a coach of the AC train.

According to WR spokesperson, two morning services of AC train were operational and after that six intermediate services were cancelled due to a technical problem in the cooling system. The services of AC local train resumed at 5.49 pm from Churchgate.

Earlier in the day, the WR said in a tweet, "Due to a technical problem in the functioning of the AC in three coaches, the services of AC local had been cancelled for repairs. Inconvenience to commuters is highly regretted please (sic)."  

It is to be noted that the WR had cancelled the AC local train scheduled to depart at 10.58 am on June 15 from the Borivali station, disappointing commuters, who claimed that they had not been alerted in advance about the move.