Two years after spending lakhs on a report to understand among others, our preference for the colour violet for Mumbai's local trains, MUTP is at it again. This time it is commissioning another costly report to finalise the new look and colour for the 72 new trains that will be introduced in 2013
Two years after spending lakhs on a report to understand among others, our preference for the colour violet for Mumbai's local trains, MUTP is at it again. This time it is commissioning another costly report to finalise the new look and colour for the 72 new trains that will be introduced in 2013
At a time when Mumbai's 70-lakh train commuters are struggling to bag a seat inside a local, the The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is getting a new report prepared from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, for finalising a new colour scheme for the 72 new 12-car stainless steel trains arriving in December 2013 under Mumbai Urban Transport Project-2A (MUTP), at a cost of over Rs 3 lakh. 
After the 2009 report, for which Rs 3 lakh was shelled out, 129 trains on
the Western line were given a violet-white colour pattern
This, after they already spent Rs 3 lakh on a 2009 report prepared for finalising colours for the 129 violet-white trains currently running on the tracks. That report also mentioned the seating pattern, ventilation required and leg space, and was responsible for finalising the current purple and white colour scheme that's being used.
"The new trains will be made of stainless steel, while the current Siemens trains are made of Corton steel. So we have to gauge what colour would suit them. They will also incorporate recommendations of the previous report," said a senior MRVC official, on condition of anonymity. For the revised painting of the exterior, the colour scheme and other technical inputs, a separate consultancy has been awarded to the National School of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.
The NID team will also study the best seating arrangement, and whether it should remain vertical, or fitted on the sides of the compartment, the way it is in a Metro compartment. It will also make recommendations for the best seat colour, which, according to the draft report, has been suggested as red for first class and blue for second-class compartments. While preparing the final report, the views of the general public will be taken into account. Apart from this the quality of flooring, handles, seating arrangements and luggage racks will be upgraded.
Before 2009, trains on the Western line sported a blue and white hue.
Seventy two new trains will be introduced in December 2013
Although MRVC officials added that there wouldn't be much difference in the two reports, sources say that the type of train itself, both, on the inside and outside, will change.
One such change will be in the manner in which the train is constructed. An official explained that presently, the outer structure of the train uses a number of nuts and bolts in a way that causes it to bulge at the centre, which impacts its running speed. However, the new stainless steel trains will be flat and welded as one unit.
"A draft report has already been submitted by the NID for the 72 new trains," said Prakashrao Vazalwar, spokesperson, MRVC. Meanwhile, the new managing director of MRVC, Rakesh Saksena said that the new set of 72 trains running on pure 25000-volt Alternating Current could be expected by December 2013. "As of now, Central Railway will get 38 trains and Western Railway will get 34 trains. This may vary, though," Saksena said. The cost of this train will be Rs 32 crore each. These trains will also have the capacity of adding up to 18 cars.
Wasteful expenses
12 colour combinations were suggested for the new trains, including violet-white, green-violet, green-white, red-violet, indigo-white and black-white.
The report was prepared at a cost of Rs 3 lakh.
Rs 32 crore is the cost of each new train that will be introduced in 2013.
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