Rajendra B. Aklekar rajendra. aklekar@ mid- day. com THE response to the air- conditioned train on Central Railway ( CR) is yet to improve, with just about 1,400 passengers booking tickets daily in the last few days.
Meanwhile, CRu2019s second AC local has already arrived and will be used as a spare train for this one, with the third one, too, now leaving the Chennai factory.
The first CR AC train was flagged off on January 30 and its first commercial run was on January 31.
As per statistics available, about 274, 238 and 247 tickets were sold on February 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
This saw about 1,402, 1,496 and 1,088 passengers onboard the train on these days with the railways earning R 62,982, R 56,715 and R 48,104.
While the train is capable of ferrying about 5,000 passengers in a single trip, it has been ferrying about 1,400 in all its 16 trips.
The AC local has been running on the Thane- Vashi- Panvel Trans- Harbour line with 16 services daily.
There are plans to get six AC local trains by March 2020 that will be introduced on the mainline between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus ( CSMT) and Kalyan and on the harbour railway between CSMT and Panvel railway stations.
Lukewarm response to CRu2019s first AC train
