Since the addition of the AC local train service for the past three days, passengers from Badlapur have been protesting against it as they wanted non-AC local trains instead of AC. (Image: centralrailwayindia.wordpress.com)THE CENTRAL Railway (CR) of Mumbai Division announced the cancellation of 10 AC services introduced just last week from August 19 after opposition and protests from the passengers against the AC trains.
On August 19, the Central Railway started operating 10 more AC local trains on CSMT-Thane, Kalyan and Badlapur routes by replacing the existing non-AC local trains.
Since the addition of the AC local train service for the past three days, passengers from Badlapur have been protesting against it as they wanted non-AC local trains instead of AC.
Passengers have been gathering outside the Badlapur railway station manager’s office and shouting slogans demanding suspension of the AC local trains and resumption of non-AC trains. Following the protests, the CR on Wednesday decided to suspend the AC service.
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The passengers are upset with the Railways as it is cancelling or replacing the non-AC train services after the introduction of AC train services. The passengers claim that very few people afford to travel by AC trains and due to lesser non-AC trains crowd in the non-AC trains is increasing.
Several political leaders, including NCP leader Jitendra Awhad and Supriya Sule, had tweeted in the passengers’ support. Currently, a total of 56 AC train services are run by the Central Railway and with the addition of the 10 new AC services it would have been 66 AC local train services. “The earlier 56 AC trains will run according to schedule,” said a senior railway official. The Central Railway runs a total of 1,810 local train services on the Mumbai suburban network and caters to over 40 lakh passengers every day.