Old open-door local trains in Mumbai will soon be a thing of the past. The Maharashtra government has given the green signal for replacing all old open-door trains with modern, fully air-conditioned rakes — without increasing ticket fares — in a phased manner. The procurement process for the new rakes will begin once approvals are received from the central government.

On Tuesday, the state cabinet infrastructure committee, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, approved the plan to replace old rakes with technology-driven, closed-door trains similar to Metro coaches. In the first phase, 268 fully air-conditioned trains with closed doors and advanced passenger amenities will be purchased under modernisation plans in MTUP phases 3 and 3A.

mid-day had reported that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had, in March 2025, cleared the proposal to procure 238 air-conditioned local trains for Mumbai. He said, “I had discussions with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the subject of improving Mumbai’s local train system. This topic came up, and I was glad to announce that the procurement of 238 new local trains for Mumbai has been finally approved.”