Mumbai: First class travellers on the city’s suburban railway may have something to cheer about soon, with the railways planning to introduce extra first-class coaches, and possibly a dedicated first class rake. The complaints of commuters who pay nearly 10 times the price of a second-class ticket has been of space, especially during peak hours. Adding to the problem is their steadily rising numbers.
Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, WR, said, “We have sent a proposal for providing one additional coach for first class passengers.”
Currently, 15-car rakes provide 42 services daily, and their first class coaches can accommodate 252 seated and 75 standing passengers. This means only 13,714 first class passengers can be accommodated in a day, but an analytical survey by WR says there are 1.14 times more first class commuters. For a 12-car rake, seating capacity is 202 and standing 60. WR runs 1,281 services using 12-car rakes, whose normal carrying capacity for first class coaches per day is 3,35,459 passengers.
While both 12- and 15-car rakes can normally carry 3,49,173 first class passengers, the survey has said there are approximately 3.99 lakh first class passengers. A senior WR official said, “We’re planning an additional first class coach in all 15-car rakes, and more services will also be added by end of September with a new time table. The number of first class passengers is on the rise, and we can get more revenue by providing more coaches for them. We are running ladies specials and are planning on a fully air conditioned local train, then why can’t we have dedicated first class rakes?” The new time table is scheduled to be released by September 15, he added.
