Commuters living on the central suburbs may soon be able to travel in air conditioned (AC) coaches. In a letter to Member of Parliament Kirit Somaiya, Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal said that the Central Railway (CR) will receive four AC rakes by March next year.
The Integral Coach Factory manufacturing AC rakes, is expected to supply nine more trains to CR. At present only one AC local is running on the Western line, which has been increasing in popularity since its introduction on December 25, 2017.
The letter also ruled out the possibility of 15-coach locals on the Central line citing infrastructure constraints. At present there is just one such local plying on the Central line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Kalyan. The letter stated that the plan to upgrade to 15-coach locals is under process for inclusion under MUTP 3A.
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The AC locals being developed by ICF will be in addition to the 47 AC EMU rakes that the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation plans to procure under the MUTP 3.