Don’t keep AC trains idle: Suresh Prabhu

Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has asked Central Railway (CR) to stop waiting for the Railway Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) to resolve software issues and instead, start working on reducing the height of air-conditioned trains which is also one of the biggest impediments to running of these trains.

In a meeting with all railway and state officials, Mr Prabhu told CR officers that they could no longer wait for software chinks to be solved and instead, should start working on reducing the height of trains. “Until now, CR was waiting for the RDSO to find the solution and then start working on reducing the height. However the minister has basically told CR to pick up pace and take the rake to Matunga workshop and begin work to reduce its height,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

The air-conditioned train was brought to the city on March 31 this year but has since been facing software issues. However, it was later discovered that the trains’ air-conditioning unit placed on its roof was six inches higher than normal. Because of this, the unit was likely to bang against British-build railway over bridges located at Carnac and pipeline bridges between CST and Kurla. “The minister said the train cannot be lying idle for five months after being delivered and there is no excuse for not getting it up and running for the common man to use,” added the official.

The train is currently parked in the Kurla car shed and will be taken to Matunga as soon as possible. A major relief will be that 607 persons affected by the sixth line between Mumbai Central and Borivali will be taken care of by MMRDA.