Central Railway divisions haggle over AC train

Even before the air-conditioned train has arrived in the city, skirmishes over which line will actually get the train have already erupted. In one such development, Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare has written a letter to the Central Railway’s general manager asking that the train be run between CST and Thane instead of the planned Trans-Harbour.

The letter, a copy of which is with this newspaper, said that since the first train ran from CST (then known as Bori Bunder) to Thane back in 1853, it would only be fair the first air-conditioned train in Mumbai too runs in the same section.

“If this is done then not only will the residents of Thane benefit from the decision but so will the surrounding areas,” he said in the letter.

Differing opinions on which line should get the AC train, have emerged even though the train is yet to reach the city and go through the rigorous process of safety checks and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within the railways, when bringing in new rolling-stock.

The safety checks for any train that will be seen on the tracks for the first time include: making sure the dimensions of the train while in a stationary position as well while running, are not a hazard when crossing under foot-over-bridges and rail-over-bridges; and checking the reliability of the springs underneath the train by laying the vehicle with sand-filled sacks in order to replicate the crushing weight of commuters during peak-hours.

The AC train left Chennai only on Friday evening and the safety checks of a completely new stock takes almost six months to be completely finished.

Some senior railway officials agree with Mr Vichare’s point of view and have said that running the train on Harbour or Trans-Harbour would be risky as any failure in the train on Trans-Harbour or even mainline Harbour would be catastrophic as there is one track for either line.

“If it fails on the Trans-Harbour or Harbour we have no slow or fast track available like our mainline where we can divert the trains. If the train has any problem and comes to a standstill the entire line will be disrupted, hence it would be advisable to run on the mainline instead,” said the official.

Another camp within the CR felt that if the train would halt on the Trans-Harbour or Harbour the repercussion would not be as severe as it would be if run on the mainline.

“This is the first train of its kind so we do not know how it will behave when it is actually opened to the public. If the train breaks down or has any technical glitches on the mainline the service affected will be on a very massive scale, if the same happens on the Harbour or the Trans-Harbour the effect, by which we mean the number of cancellations, won’t be too high,” said a senior official.