The air-conditioned train that was to be operational in May this year will start its trial run from Thursday. Let alone ferrying commuters, the trial run itself is late by eight months and is the first of any kind of trial of the train which has been parked since April 2016.
The Central Railway (CR), which is responsible for running of the air-conditioned rake, has not even been able to get the train trial-ready owing to issues related to software and temperature control of the air conditioning.
Consequently, a static trial — where the train will be parked in the Kurla car shed itself — will test the electrical system and have set parameters to check if commuters experience any discomfort with all machines turned on. A CR official on condition of anonymity said, “We will be running trials from Thursday that will last around three weeks. During these trials, the train will be parked next to the platform and all equipment will be turned on to see if there is any interference.”
If the first trial goes without a glitch, the second trial will be conducted for a period of 12 to 14 weeks thereafter. “The 12-14 weeks’ trial is called dynamic trial during which the train will be filled with sand bags and will be run at slowly accelerated speeds. Separate trials will be held to see if the train is able to hold its balance on steep curves. These will be conducted between Kasara and Kalyan due to the difficult topography,” the official said.
It is yet to be decided whether the train will be run on CR or WR (Western Railway).
