In a first, Central Railway gets e-autos at Thane station

In a bid to promote electric mobility the Central Railway CR has launched eautos at Thane station In addition moving beyond charging points it has also introduced a battery replacement serviceDuring a test drive on Tuesday midday found the setup to be wellorganised with security and manpower with women drivers The electric autos and the charging centre also have a dedicated parking bay adjoining platform no 1 at Thane at the base of the bridge that ferries public transport buses in the east ldquoThere is a plan to have a fleet of 30 electric autos of which 1415 are in already operation The idea is to make a sustainable model for lastmile connectivity from the railway stationsrdquo CRrsquos chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar saidldquoWomen drivers have been appointed to run the eautos which will be given support and will run at regular city fares Besides this the CR has also tied up with the UN Environment Programme UNEP and Tata Power to proliferate electric vehicle charging pointsrdquo a senior official said adding that the first one at Mumbai CSMT was the result of their idea and that later the CR took it to other railway stations including Dadar Parel Byculla and Thane ldquoFor the second phase tenders have been floated for stations including Lokmanya Tilak Terminus LTT Bhandup Panvel and Kalyan Areas at the entryexit points of railway stations with parking facilities have been earmarked for the charging stations as per availabilityrdquo the official addedldquoA transition to emobility is one of the best solutions for combatting the challenges of air pollution and the climate crises with electrification being a flexible energyefficient and sustainable way to decarbonise the economyrdquo said Atul Bagai head of UNEPrsquos India OfficeKurlaAndheri top weekly ticket salesA week after local train services were given access to the public the railways released figures of both lines with top five stations that have the highest sale of tickets While on CR Kurla was the topmost Andheri remained on the top on the Western Railway ldquoThe top five stations on CR Mumbai remained Kurla Titwala Ghatkopar Mulund and Kasara while those on Western Railway remained Andheri Borivli Nallasopara Kandivli and Dadarrdquo a railway spokesperson said