Boarding soon: Trials to start for Mumbai-Pune local train

Local trains between Mumbai and Pune might become a reality after all In a letter the Central Railway CR has requested the Integral Coach Factory ICF in Chennai to design a 12car train with higher braking powers to enable it to run smoothly in hilly terrain between the states financial capital and its cultural capitalCR has been sending missives to the ICF since June 2018 requesting the local for MumbaiPune travel They sent a third letter on December 13 2018 midday has a copy where CRs principal chief mechanical engineer asked the manufacturers to design a special 12car local train with higher braking powers so as to enable it to run in the mountainous and hilly terrain of the Khandala ghat section during trials between Mumbai and PuneExpected on Jan 10Weve requested ICF to turn out a 12car EMU train with parking brakes on 32 wheels instead of the existing 16 wheels for various mandatory trials like emergency braking distance coupler force and controllability in the south east section between Karjat and Lonavala The railway board has been insisting on early trials of this with the research design and standards organisation the technical consultant of Indian Railways Since ICF is yet to manufacture six trains for Central Railway we have requested them to manufacture one with enhanced brakes for CSMTPune local trials said a senior CR officialApart from Mumbai and Pune CR had earlier discussed running EMU locals between Mumbai and Nashik But passenger associations say MumbaiPune is more important Pic for representationGetty ImagesThe suggestion was originally put up by retired chief locomotive inspector Waman Sangle at the Rail Vikas Shivir in 2016 I submitted a 70page technical report on the feasibility of the run Originally the trials were conducted with existing local trains but the railways decided to get special local trains from Chennai with more powerful parking brakes and door closing The train is expected to arrive by January 10 and trials will happen soon Sangle saidWhy the special localThe railway distance between CSMT and Pune is 192 km Of this local trains already run between the 9972 km distance of CSMT and Karjat and the 64 km distance between Lonavala and Pune However there are no local trains between the 28 km stretch of Karjat and Lonavala which is very mountainous and has gradients that incline requiring steep climbs and slopes in addition to several tunnels and viaducts on the way Due to these reasons a local that can traverse all of this terrain is requiredEMU and MEMUTechnicality was the only problem with the plan to run locals between Mumbai and Pune As per railway board instructions Electric Multiple Unit EMU locals are primarily meant for suburban transport and not supposed to travel beyond 150 kmph due limitations in their design like lack of toilets no vestibule and limited powers On the other hand the Mainline Electric Multiple Units MEMU are ideally supposed to be used for longdistance and intercity travel However the recent changes in EMU trains brought in by ICF have provided them with a vestibule and additional powers of higher torque acceleration and deacceleration thus clearing the hurdlesWaman SangleSince 1978Apart from Mumbai and Pune CR had earlier discussed running EMU locals between Mumbai and Nashik too But passenger associations say MumbaiPune is more important Every day more than 7000 passengers arrive to Mumbai in three early morning trains namely the Deccan Queen the Pragati Express and the Sinhagad Express from Pune This is in addition to the thousands of road transport vehicles that jam the MumbaiPune Expressway and highways to make their way into the cityHarsha Shah chairperson of the MumbaiPune railway passenger group said MumbaiPune local rail connectivity has been a demand since March 1978 when the LonavalaPune local trains were started Once upon a time trials of local trains had also been held but no one took them seriously If the railways can think of NashikMumbai trials Pune should not be left behind192kmRailway distance between CSMT and PuneCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates