AC train is too high to run between CST-Kurla

Almost three-months after it was delivered, railway officials have realised that the height of the air-conditioned train is too high to run the train between CST and Kurla.

The roof of this train has been fitted with 2x15 tonnes of air-conditioned unit, as a result of which the vertical clearance between the roof of the train and a Road-Over-Bridge (ROB)/Foot-Over-Bridge (FOB) has been exceeded by 50 mm, said officials. This may result in the train’s roof coming in contact with these structures situated between Kurla and CST.

“The coaches by themselves are the normal height but since these units have been mounted on the roof, the height of the entire train has increased. As a result the units might even hit an ROB if it’s too low and the track rises due to the topography at the same spot, it might also happen that the unit might touch the overhead wire that runs 25,000 volts and cause an electrical related incident,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

Even though the Hancock Bridge has been demolished, other bridges like Carnac Road and small bridges for pipelines do exist. The officials have now asked the manufacturers of the train, The Integral Coach Factory (ICF), to resolve the issue.

“The ICF engineers have said that they will reduce the height of the train by removing the fat metal sheet between the units’ base and the roof of the train,” the official further added.

This is not the first hurdle encountered by the railways as far as this air-conditioned train is concerned.

The software of the train has been seeing glitches right from the start with safety features like emergency brakes etc not kicking in when needed, during the trials. After this it was discovered that the temperature by the air-conditioning would drop down to a nippy 16 instead of the preferred 20-24 degree Celsius.