Thane: No takers for AC locals, crowds swell on platforms

THANE: The second day of air-conditioned local trains on the Trans-Harbour line saw thousands of peak-hour commuters hassled as they complained about inadequate regular services.
Nearly 16 trips of the total 282 services between Thane and Navi Mumbai on the line were converted to AC train trips. These commuters were left with no alternative but to wait for the next available train, which was doubly crowded because of a similar situation at the previous stations.
Many switched to road travel. "I used to travel by the 7.08 pm Nerul-Thane train in peak hours but the AC train seems to be a complete failure as only five passengers travelled today in the train," said Ashish Singh.
Even as the volume of passengers swelled at the stations, some of the AC trips saw barely 20 commuters during peak hour, leaving many commuters infuriated.
The railways had not made available the AC ticket sales for the day at the time of going to press.
"The railways started AC local from Thane to Panvel, which has barely 0.5% occupancy. Running empty locals, and that too at peak hour, is not a wise idea. The railways could allow first-class passengers to travel in the AC train. Commuters don't want AC locals at the cost of regular ones," said Viraj A.
Railway officials said they were waiting for the response to pick up and blamed winter for the poor response.