’CR must review timings of AC local to avoid overcrowding’

Vexed with overcrowding at the stations and inside local trains, passengers travelling on the trans-harbour route of the Central Railway (CR) have asked the railway

Vexed with overcrowding at the stations and inside local trains, passengers travelling on the trans-harbour route of the Central Railway (CR) have asked the railway authorities to review the timings of the air-conditioned (AC) local train.

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Passengers said locals reach stations 10-15 minutes after the AC train crosses the station, owing to which, there is overcrowding and chaos, especially during the peak hours.

As schedule of 8.08 am of Thane-Vashi local is replaced by the AC train, passengers have to wait for the train after the AC local, which leads to overcrowding at the station and in the next train.

“I travel from trans-harbour everyday between Thane and Vashi. After the AC train was introduced, overcrowding at railway stations and inside regular local trains have increased,” said Anam Shaikh, a Thane resident.

Passenger associations stated that the CR should take feedback from passengers and change the timings of the AC local train. “There is always a need to make changes when a new service is introduced. The Western Railway made changes in timings of their AC local trains. The CR should take passengers’ feedback and change timings of the train to reduce overcrowding.” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.

The zonal railway stated that feedback from passengers is being taken and changes with implementations to the operation of the AC train will be done post summer. “Feedback from passengers is being taken. We are monitoring the number of passengers and will implement anything post summer,” said a senior CR official.

Passengers also took to social media to complain about the crowding due to the AC local train. “@PiyushGoyal@PiyushGoyalOffc. Sir, greetings. We travel on Trans Harbour Route daily. The trains are heavily crowded and in this situation Local schedule at 8:08 am Thane - Vashi is replaced by AC train so it’s getting difficult for people to travel in earlier or next train.” tweeted VishwajitC

“@RailMinIndia please look in timetable of Thane panvel and Thane vashi local trains. Becomes too crowdy due to ac local in the morning.” tweeted @TejasB79810871

The CR is also concerned about the ticket sales of the AC trains. Railways have claimed that monthly pass-holders are slowly increasing. Initially, after the AC train was introduced, 200 tickets were sold every day on the first three consecutive days. About 1,000 monthly passes were sold on Feburary 4,5 and 6.

CR introduced its first AC local train on January 30 between Panvel and Thane railway stations.