Mumbai: Railways yet to lower fares of hated AC locals

An almost empty AC local on Monday

If you want to travel on board an empty local during the rush hour, Mumbai's air-conditioned train is for you. Even on crowded days, the AC locals run almost empty, which is an indicator that there is low acceptance to the service. The Railways wants to promote it further and have all-AC locals on the Mumbai Suburban network, but a formal decision on reducing the fare is yet to come.

Central Railway plans to introduce more AC services soon on the new lines, and trains are set to arrive from the manufacturers. The growth in AC locals is slow, and the Railways has offered all possible sops in the given limitations to make the train attractive, but they do not seem to be working.

"The gist of the matter is that either fares should be reduced or first-class passengers of regular trains should be allowed to board AC locals [and upgrade the pass]," commuter Antya Sakpal said. Railways insist that the existing fare structure is not that expensive compared to private cabs or any other modes of transport.

Not enough services

A few are willing to take the AC local on odd days, but are not ready to invest in it, as there aren't enough services. mid-day, on Monday, took AC locals on all sections, and learnt that commuters want the railways to increase the frequency of the train to encourage it. "I can buy a regular pass of the AC train if timings are made more flexible and more services are made available," said Ranjeet Mahato, a commuter.

However, the Railways is not able to do that, as most commuters have opposed the complete replacement of existing services with AC trains. "There are no new paths, as the network is saturated. Any new introduction requires replacement of existing non-AC trains, which are patronised by many. This is leading to complications," a top official said.

"They cancelled our regular train and replaced it with an AC train. The non-AC local that comes after the AC local is jam-packed, as the crowd on the platform swells in that brief period," said Akshay Shah, a commuter on WR. People are not taking the AC local, as it requires a special pass and a ticket, and one cannot board it and upgrade the ticket, as no such facility is available. AC train tickets cost about 1.3 times the fare of the first class of regular locals.

Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, at an internal meeting on October 12, agreed to lower the fares to the level of Delhi Metro standards, but a formal announcement is still awaited. It was decided to bring the AC locals' single-journey ticket fare at par with what the MMRDA proposed or that of Delhi Metro. The season ticket, i.e. monthly and other passes, would remain as is. For the first 3 km, the proposed Mumbai Metro fare is R10 compared to R65 for 5 km for AC local trains.

The second key decision was to upgrade the Mumbai Suburban railway with all AC locals. The third key decision was that the AC local trains should be designed as per the international Metro standards and its manufacture would involve private players and not traditional railway coach factories. The decision could transform the way Mumbaikars travel, but it hasn't been officially announced yet.

More AC local trains to be procured

As per the discussions at the meeting, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation would procure 238 fully AC local trains under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 and 3A. Shailesh Goyal, former member of National Railway Users' Consultative Council, said, "The AC trains would reduce casualties by instances of falling off trains." Subhash H Gupta of Rail Yatri Parishad said, "If the decision is announced promptly, Mumbai AC locals would be a challenge to Metro trains."

FAQs about AC locals

>> Why don't commuters use AC locals?
Because fares are higher than that of regular locals, and existing pass- or ticket-holders cannot get onboard and get it upgraded.

>> Why are AC locals hated?
Because the Railways is introducing them at the cost of existing trains that are well patronised. There is no path available to introduce them due to system saturation, which leads to crowding on platforms for regular trains.

>> What is Railways's argument?
The AC local fare is 1.3 times the normal local fare, which is not as expensive as compared to other modes of transit.

>> What are the three new decisions?
Bring down fare to Metro levels, introduce only AC trains henceforth in Mumbai, and procure about 238 new AC locals of global standard.