Mumbai: RPF to manage crowds in AC suburban trains

Mumbai: The commuters travelling in the air-conditioned local train from Monday onwards will be safe thanks to the presence of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Western Railway. RPF officials will be posted in the train as well as railway stations on the western line. A senior official said it is the city’s first air-conditioned local train, a first for the entire country—which will start running from Monday. The inaugural AC rake will chug out of Andheri station at 2.10 pm for Churchgate.

Senior RPF officials confirmed that an RPF official will be posted inside each coach of the AC local train. “The RPF personnel will be posted for crowd management and security purpose in the train. Remaining personnel will be posted at each railway stations to ensure that commuters board the train without any hurdle,” said an RPF official.

The AC train has been categorized as a ‘premium train with low frequency’ and the fare has been pegged at 1.3 times the prevailing first-class fare. The train will run five days a week with no service on weekends. The minimum fare will be Rs 60 and the maximum Rs 220. Besides a monthly season ticket, the AC train will also have weekly and fortnightly season tickets.

Also read: Technical preparations to run Mumbai’s first AC local complete: Western Railway

A senior western railway official said that AC local train is formally being introduced on a commercial basis. “From December 25 to 29, total six services will run per day between Churchgate and Borivali as per different timetable. From January 1st, 2018, on regular basis except for Saturdays and Sundays, 12 services will run from Mondays to Fridays as per regular scheduled timetable,” added senior official. He added that tickets will accordingly be issued for all services from December 25 onwards.

The 12-coach AC train with self-closing doors is a landmark for the city’s lifeline. With more rakes, it promises a more comfortable ride through the coming summer. An inaugural discount of 10 per cent will be available on the AC local fare for the first six months, said Western Railway’s divisional railway manager Mukul Jain. The final fare chart will be out on Sunday.

The AC train will ply from Churchgate to Borivali or up to Virar on the fast corridor. The only slow AC service will be from Mahalaxmi to Borivli after which it will run from Borivli to Churchgate.