Move afoot to increase services of AC local trains in city

Currently, the Western Railway has 3 AC rakes and runs a total of 32 AC train services daily, while the Central Railway has a total of five AC rakes, of which one was borrowed from the Western Railway, and a total of 56 AC train services.

According to officials, the Central railway is likely to get 2 AC rakes by next month, of which one will be sent to the Western Railway for the AC rake they had borrowed. The official said once the new AC rakes are received, they would be able to introduce as many as 12 more services on the lines.

The official added that since the fare of single journey tickets of AC trains have been slashed by almost 50 per cent, there has been a tremendous rise in ridership and more and more commuters are demanding an increase in the frequency of such trains as they prefer travelling in AC trains than non-AC ones.

“We expect to get these new rakes by July and after which we will be able to increase the frequency of the trains and cater to more and more passengers,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the Central Railway is planning to allow non-AC monthly pass holders to travel in AC local trains after paying the difference in fare.” It has been proposed that a passenger holding a non-AC monthly season ticket, be it first or second class, will not have to buy the separate ticket for AC train if he/she wishes to board one. The passenger could just go to the ticket counter and pay the difference in fare to be able to travel in an AC train. We will soon be taking a decision on this proposal,” a Central Railway official said.

The Western Railway already allows the passengers to travel in AC local trains after paying the difference in fare.