Central Railway’s premium air-conditioned (AC) local trains, introduced to offer safe, dignified, and comfortable travel to fare-paying commuters, are increasingly being taken over by ineligible railway staff, union members, hawkers, and even beggars. Meanwhile, genuine commuters, who pay steep fares like Rs 2135 (Kalyan–CSMT), Rs 2220 (Titwala–CSMT), and Rs 2385 (Badlapur–CSMT) for monthly AC passes, or Rs 105–R120 per single journey, are left standing helplessly.

The 3.24 pm and 4.00 pm AC locals from CSMT to Dombivli (slow), and the 4.11 pm double-fast AC local to Kalyan, have become battlegrounds where paying commuters struggle daily against an apathetic system. Regular passengers allege that these trains are overrun by Matunga and Parel workshop staff, many of whom are ineligible to travel in AC compartments but bypass checks by flashing ID cards or union slips.