Mumbai: Seven new stops add Rs 34 lakh to WR earnings from single AC local

MUMBAI: Western Railway’s decision to introduce seven additional halts on the AC local route between Churchgate and Virar increased its ticket earnings by Rs 34 lakh in two months. The halts were added in November following demand by commuters. The commuter count too shot up significantly to 18,000 daily after the halts were introduced.

Mumbai got its first AC local last Christmas. “We provided additional halts at Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Dahisar, Mira Road, Naigaon and Nalasopara. It worked wonders as we got more passengers and revenue,” said WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar. The new halts were in addition to the previous ones at Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivli, Bhayander and Vasai Road stations.

The AC local train runs between Churchgate and Virar with total 12 services (6 Up and 6 Down services) on all days except on Saturday and Sunday, when it goes for maintenance.

“In November, after the new halts were introduced, an additional 3,500 tickets were sold and 47,800 passengers boarded the train from these seven stations. This generated an additional revenue of around Rs 20 lakh in November,” he said. Mira Road station recorded the highest earnings among the seven newly added stations with a revenue of Rs 6.40 lakh.

Similarly, 2,700 tickets were sold from December 1 to December 20 for the same stations, and 34,000 passengers boarded the train, generating an additional revenue of Rs 14 lakh. Mira Road station raked up maximum earnings of around Rs 4.5 lakh.

Data shows that among all the stations between Churchgate and Virar, Borivli was the highest earner for the AC train. “Between November 1 and December 20, Borivli station recorded sale of 10,912 tickets, 2.24 lakh passengers took the train from here and WR earned Rs. 71.4 lakh here,” an official said.

The other big earners for the local were Virar (Rs 37.5 lakh), Vasai Road (Rs 27.9 lakh), Bhayander (Rs 23.3 lakh) and Andheri (Rs 18.9 lakh).