AC local's maiden trip to start from Andheri

Mumbai: Finally, the wait for an air-conditioned local train is set to end for Mumbaikars, with the first ride slated for the Christmas Day. The railway board has announced the fare structure for the train, with the ticket price being 1.2 times the fare of a first class ticket for the first six months. Later, the fare will be increased to 1.3 times the fare of the first class ticket.

The fare will include 5 per cent GST and calculation of other charges, including the Mumbai Urban Transport Plan (MUTP) charges, is still underway. The finalisation of the fare structure might take some more time. In fact, the Christmas launch was almost cancelled by the Western Railways (WR) because of this delay. Thankfully, the railway board approved the current fare structure on Friday night, essentially giving a green signal for the December 25 trip.

The singular train won’t run during weekends as was expected earlier. A lot of controversies have surrounded its launch, which primarily include its unreliability. An official said, “Our biggest fear is that the train will come to a halt due to a technical issue during its inaugural run or break down later in the day. As a result of which, we will only the services only up to Borivali, instead of Virar, on its first day.

The WR chief public relations officer, Ravindra Bhakar said, “The decision to run the AC train on Christmas day has been finalised as promised by the Union railway minister Piyush Goyal.”

Requesting the public to come forward to view the train at Mumbai Central station on Christmas,

Mr Bhakar said, “The train will be stationed at Mumbai Central from 10.30 am to 1 pm and we welcome all the Mumbaikars to see the train if they wish to.”

The train is all set to run for its maiden service from Andheri to Churchgate at 2.10 pm, marking the Christmas a special day in the history of Railways.