Western Railway to install automatic sensors in AC train

Officials said the Western Railway (WR) had received complaints from passengers regarding the door opening on the wrong side of the station of the AC local train.

Following complaints by passengers that automatic doors of Mumbai’s first suburban air-conditioned (AC) train at times open on the wrong side of platform, the Western Railway (WR) plans to install automatic sensors.

Following complaints by passengers that automatic doors of Mumbai’s first suburban air-conditioned (AC) train at times open on the wrong side of platform, the Western Railway (WR) plans to install automatic sensors. (Hindustan Times)

Currently, the guards open the doors manually, and sometimes err in the process. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai which has built the train will install the sensors in the guard coach, so the doors open automatically on the side of the platform.

Also, all new AC local trains that the Mumbai suburban network will get in the future will have such sensors.

Officials said the Western Railway (WR) had received complaints from passengers regarding the door opening on the wrong side of the station of the AC local train. The technical problem occurred as the switches for the doors are on two extreme ends in the guard’s cabin.

“The guard at times is occupied with other work resulting in opening of doors on the wrong side. These sensors will be similar to Metro’s,” said a senior WR official.

Earlier, the WR had asked the ICF to reduce the halting time of AC local train by reducing the time taken to open and close the automatic doors. A regular local train halts at every station for 20 seconds. The AC local train halts for close to a minute.