Mumbai local train updates: No Jumbo block on Sunday, says Western Railway

Representational image/ File Pic

The Western Railway, while sharing Mumbai local train updates, on Friday said that there will be no jumbo on Sunday.

In a statement, the Western Railway said that to carry out maintenance work of tracks, signalling and overhead equipment, an overnight jumbo block of four hours will be taken on up and down fast lines between Vasai Road and Virar station from on the intervening night 6th and 7th July from 00.15 hrs to 04.15 hrs

According to a press release issued by Vineet Abhishek - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, during the block period, all up and down fast line trains will run on slow lines between BVasai Road and Virar stations. Some suburban trains will remain cancelled during the block.

"Detailed information to the effect is available with concerned Station Masters. Passengers are requested to please take note of the above arrangements, the Western Railway said.

Mumbai: WR fixes its AC local train fleet efficiently with 80/20 rule

The principles of a 19th century Italian polymath, Wilfried Fritz Pareto, have been put to use by the Western Railway to fix its fleet of AC local trains by drawing up a Reliability Action Plan (RAP).

The Pareto principle, also known as 80/20 rule, states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few").

Pareto also contributed to the fields of sociology and mathematics. The Pareto principle is the basis for the Pareto chart, one of the key tools used in total quality control and Six Sigma techniques. Incidentally, Pareto's first job was with the state-owned Italian Railways.

"Based on the Pareto principle, the failures of the AC train fleet were plotted in descending order and execution of the RAP was started from failures having most significant impact on reliability and services. It is pertinent to mention that the results were remarkable and a significant reduction in line failures were witnessed leading to a marked improvement in commuter satisfaction," Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said.

"Developing a robust RAP involves post root cause analysis, along with a clear understanding of the challenges ahead with a multi - dimensional approach aimed at addressing each identified issue systematically and permanently," he said.

"Currently, Western Railway is running 96 AC local services with seven trains. For an efficient upkeep & maintenance of these AC trains and to tackle this issue head-on, a RAP has been devised by the team of local train carshed at Mumbai Central, Kandivali and Virar to address the failures in Air-conditioned rakes. Through rigorous testing and data analysis of all AC local trains, key factors contributing to the failures were identified. After critical analysis of the failures, they were classified into different heads and subheads. Some of the major concerns which were addressed were pertaining to Roof Mounted Package Unit (RMPU), traction motors, automatic door closure) and the trains electrics and equipment from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Due to such diligent analysis, strategic planning and collaborative effort, the failures in AC rakes have significantly reduced," he said.