Central Railway’s idea to reduce size of wheels of 35 out of 51 rakes by 10mm in order to reduce height of trains has come back to haunt it. The ongoing experiment to remove seats and rearrange them so as to allow more standing space is adding more weight than the wheels can handle, which could result in them being crushed.
CR had shaved off the wheels of 35 out of 51 Siemens trains to reduce height of trains during conversion of the mainline from Direct Current (DC) to Alternate Current (AC) in June this year. The height of these trains was more than acceptable with the possibility of the top of the train hitting various rail-over-bridges (ROB) on the mainline.
However, officials had not foreseen that modifications to the wheels would impact the current experiment. CR has currently revised design so as to have one coach with Metro-type seats and three coaches where, seat benches near the doors have been completely removed. An official said that since a greater number of people will be able to stand inside these coaches, the wheels will not be able to handle the weight and will end up getting crushed. “The wheels are lighter than they originally made so we cannot convert all 12-coaches that ply on the mainline to the new arrangements even if they seemed to get a positive response in the survey to be conducted over next month,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The Metro-type seating arrangement can take 112 additional people inside while the one in which the three-seat bench has been removed can take another 56. Seats with the old arrangement currently carry 350 to 370 people during peak hours. “We will have introduce the new arrangements only in the coaches at either end so that the ones in the middle will be able to balance out the pressure,” the official added.
The trial of one 12-coach with seat modifications was started on Christmas Day. This was done following the public outcry after 21-year-old Nakesh Bhavate fell off an overcrowded train on November 21.
