First-class seats are a pain in the back

Commuters claim new 'comfy' seats in locals develop sag and cause discomfort; say second-class seats much better

You may have to pay a bomb to travel first class in local trains, but that does not necessarily translate into comfort all the timeu00a0if you are in one of the new-age rakes, you may be better off seated in the second-class compartment.

First-class commuters say they pay three times more for a season pass than users of second-class compartments, but the padded seats in the new trains are so badly made that it gives them back pain.
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Commuters say the problem with the seats is when someone sits on these, the surface develops a depression.
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Rita Chatterjee, a first-class commuter, shows the deformed seats, which have been causing discomfort and backache

As the seats are almost always occupied by one commuter or the other, the constant pressure means the surface develops a permanent sag, making for uncomfortable seating.

"I have been travelling for over 25 years from Mira Road to Churchgate and these seats are a real pain. I am not able to sit properly and it's impossible for me to stand and travel.

We will be happy if the second-class seats, which are firmer, were installed in first-class compartments as well," Rita Chatterjee, a 55-year-old commuter with arthritis.

While seats in the old rakes are stuffed with rubber and coir, the purple-white Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) rakes use recron, which Girish Pillai, divisional railway manager, Western Railway, said was now being replaced with polyurethane (PU) foam.

"After receiving complaints, we are now replacing the seats. At least four rakes see PU foam seats every month in Mumbai," said Pillai.
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"We have also ensured that the rakes being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory henceforth use PU foam."

Commuters said the problem was bigger in Western Railway as Central Railway had already started modifying seats.

S Mudgerikar, chief PRO, Central Railway, claimed almost 90 per cent of the seats had been replaced.

Commuter Gargee Shah, who travels everyday between Badlapur and CST, said these days there were few deformed seats in first-class compartments.