CR to run 4 air-conditioned special trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad

Central Railway CR will operate four airconditioned special train services between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in an effort to fulfil demand from passengersThese services will also benefit the fans who are planning to attend the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad this weekendThe details of the trains are as underLokmanya Tilak Terminus LTTAhmedabadLTT AC Special 2 tripsThe 01155 AC special will depart LTT Mumbai at 1255 am on Saturday and arrive Ahmedabad at 11 amThe 01156 AC special will leave from Ahmedabad at 2 am on Sunday and will arrive LTT Mumbai at 1145 amThe train will halt at Thane Bhiwandi Road Kaman Road Vasai Road Vapi Udhna Surat and Vadodara stationsIt will comprise two 1st ACcum2AC four 2AC 14 3AC and a generator carDadarAhmedabadDadar AC Special 2 tripsThe 01157 AC special will depart Dadar at 1235 am on Sunday and arrive Ahmedabad at 11 amThe 01158 AC special will leave from Ahmedabad at 2 am on Monday and reach Dadar at 1255 pm on the same dayIt will halt at Thane Bhiwandi Road Kaman Road Vasai Road Vapi Udhna Surat and Vadodara stationsThe train will comprise two 1st AC two 1st ACcum2AC one 2AC two 2ACcum3AC nine 3AC and two second seatingcumguardrsquos brake vanPassengers can make the bookings for the trains 01155 and 01157 AC special on special charges from Thursday at all computerised reservation centres and on wwwirctccoinFor detailed timings at halts of the special trains passengers can visit wwwenquiryindianrailgovin or download NTES App the Central Railway stated in a press releaseMumbai CR commuters at witsrsquo end over defunct lsquotrain expectedrsquo indicatorsThe lsquoExpected in Minutesrsquo EIM panels on platform indicators of Central Railway in Mumbai have been nonfunctional for the past three years despite repeated assurances that they are being tested and will be operational soon As a result commuters at railway stations have no way to know how long it will take for a train to arriveWhile private and thirdparty mobile apps provide such information the railwayrsquos official system has yet to catch up At most stations the EIM panels are either blank or display ldquozerordquo The delay stems from the ongoing process of linking and integrating the Train Management System software with these indicators which has been in progress for the past three yearsldquoRailway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also minister for information technology electronics and information amp broadcasting was in Mumbai last week to announce a unified ticketing system lsquoMitrarsquo for seamless multimodal travel based on Open Network for Digital Commerce in Commuter Convenience ONDCC but the team at Central Railway in a city like Mumbai cannot fix their indicators since past three yearsrdquo Jayesh Ashteley a commuter from Dadar saidldquoThe indicators and lsquoExpected in Minutesrsquo countdown work well on Western Railway trains but have not been functional here It proves very helpful at one glance of the indicator We need to check for the apps separately to get authentic data on the location and movement of the train The railways should provide their own realtime data so there is no confusionrdquo another commuter saidldquoThe problem also leads to safety issues It is leading to crowding on foot overbridges at stations like in this instance Ghatkopar People wait on the bridge for slow or fast trains and then run for whichever arrives It may lead to accidentsrdquo another commuter said ldquoI have continuously tweeted about this major issue but the Central Railway has no answersrdquo commuter advocate Rajesh N Kalote saidWhat is the problemSources said that the Train Management System TMS software was initially installed by one company but it has since been taken over by another As a result there is no technical support no electronic cards available and no Annual Maintenance Contracts AMCs in place Finalising a new tender will take time with the estimated cost ranging between Rs 300400 crore for implementation up to Kasara Karjat and the Harbour lineOfficial commentldquoThe process to import the required equipment from abroad has begun and this year the EIM will be commissioned between CSMT to Kurlardquo an official spokesperson said