Plan for 15-car trains on Churchgate-Andheri slow route scrapped
WR cancels plan for 15-car trains on Churchgate-Andheri slow route due to technical challenges. Platforms extension not feasible.
MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) has scrapped the plan for 15-car trains on its Churchgate-Andheri slow route. The railway authorities, with a view to augmenting the carrying capacity on WR’s slow corridor, had undertaken a feasibility study for this but the project will not fructify on account of technical complications.
Almost a decade ago, the rail ministry had asked the WR and Central Railway (CR) authorities to look into the possibility of increasing the carrying capacity of local trains from 12-car to 15-car. This was to accommodate more commuters and ease congestion inside trains, minimising incidents of people falling from crammed moving trains.
“Our internal study, however, showed that extending the platforms required for this project will not be feasible,” explained a WR official. “It will also require a lot of work on the network such as shifting signal poles, tracks, points (where trains switch rail tracks) and other nuances.”
The study involved extending the platforms on the slow line from south of Andheri to Churchgate. Presently the fast corridor can accommodate 15-car trains on the Churchgate-Virar corridor. “We are already adding the fifth and sixth rail lines for segregating long-distance trains from suburban ones, and extending the harbour line till Borivali. This will take care of future demand on the suburban network,” said another WR official.
At present, WR operates 15-car trains on the slow line between Andheri and Virar. It runs a total of 199 services in 15-car trains, of which 83 are on the fast line and 116 on the slow line. Running 15-car services on the slow corridor became possible in December 2021 between Andheri and Virar after spending ₹70 crore on extending the length of 27 platforms of 14 stations to accommodate longer trains.
Unlike the 12-car train, the 15-car one has limited halts on the Dadar-Churchgate route owing to shorter platforms. WR first introduced 15-car services in 2009 on its fast corridor between Dadar and Virar, and two years later extended the services till Churchgate after extending platforms 3 and 4.