Central Railway (CR) will introduce 14 additional air-conditioned local train services on its main line from April 16. The weekday AC local services on the route will go up to 80 from 66 currently.
These new services will substitute existing non-AC services, thus maintaining the total suburban train strength at 1,810 daily. The new AC trains will operate from Monday to Saturday, while Sundays and public holidays will remain for non-AC services on these routes.
CR authorities said the move was made considering the demand for air-conditioned coaches, particularly during the peak summer season. “The AC locals have been popular, and with summer picking up, passengers are able to travel in more comfort without impacting overall frequency of service,” a senior railway officer said.
The new services are spread across the day, keeping in consideration the timings for office-goers, day-time travellers, and late-night commuters. Some important additions are early morning and night-time service between CSMT and Kalyan, Thane, and Badlapur. For example, a new service will depart from Kalyan at 7.34 am and arrive at CSMT at 9.05 am, and another will depart from Badlapur at 11.04 pm and end at Thane at midnight.
From CSMT, a morning-first service will depart at 6.26 am for Kalyan, followed by others during the day until a last departure to Badlapur at 9.08 pm. The expansion of AC services is expected to gradually redirect more commuters towards travelling on AC trains and ease the crowd in the non-AC ones.