The Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad on Monday appealed to the Central Railway to review its decision to replace some of the non-air-conditioned local trains with the AC ones on the main line between Mumbai and Thane.
Awhad, MLA from Kalwa-Mumbra in Thane, said the decision to replace the existing non-AC locals with the AC trains was causing hardships to commuters.
The former state minister said there would be an agitation if the railways do not resolve the problem.
On Friday, hundreds of commuters squatted on a railway track near the Kalwa station, blocking the path of an empty AC local train for 20 minutes to demand the resumption of a non-AC service in the morning peak hours. On Monday, several passengers also gathered near the crashed line of Kalwa Crashed, but the RPF immediately cleared the track, so there was no type of train detention reported on Monday. They were also demanding the restoration of the non-air-conditioned 8.20 AM Thane CSMT local train, which was converted to air-conditioned service on August 19th.
The Central Railway (CR) has added 10 AC locals, replacing the existing non-AC locals on the main line, but commuters are unhappy with the decision.
They have been demanding that non-AC locals be restored on the route from Kalwa to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.
In the morning rush hour, many commuters board the non-AC local trains at the car shed in Kalwa. However, the police have been taking action against such passengers, who then find it difficult to board overcrowded trains.
Awhad said commuters from intermittent stations (like Kalwa and Mumra) do not get entry into the trains, and to add to it, now the non-AC local train services have been reduced. Besides, the fare of the AC locals is still too high for the common man, he said.
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