Central line gets now fleet of Bombardier rakes with better passenger amenities

CRs BHEL trains had been throwing up problems in recent times PicAkshay MaratheFor the sake of commuter comfort the Central Railway has finally withdrawn its troublesome fleet of dual current BHEL trains They will now only be used as backup There were issues with the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited trains with one of them recently catching fire at Dadar station CR has a fleet of eight 12car BHEL trains and five were operational at any given time The running of dual current local trains from BHEL had been leading to operational issues and subsequently to delays and incidentsUshering in the newRailway officials said that after DCAC conversion many trains had been retrofitted as dual current trains like BHEL These were a stopgap arrangement to keep the system running with enough number of trains After the complete conversion of DC to AC in April 2016 railways has been procuring newer trains and CR has been getting new Bombardier rakesAs the new fleet of trains has started arriving 24odd with upgraded amenities the older trains will be phased out CR chief public relations officer Sunil Udasi confirmed the BHEL trains had been phased out assuring that peoplersquos commute would be made more comfortable as more new trains were brought inLow on reliabilityBHEL rakes were introduced in 2000 but there were fire and reliability issues right from the start Their electrics kept going off due to short circuits overheating of motors and breaking of pantographs The Commissioner of Railway Safety had in 2014 warned CR which had 14 such trains in 2014 about the danger these trains posed to commuters The issue had been of improper layout of cables and faulty fusesAfter the rap and a series of fires a CR team had worked extensively on the wiring and circuits and identified all problems mdash the existing wiring layout in ACDC BHEL coaches was in steel trenches with too many control wires running in bunches making them rub against each other leading to damage There were also problems with motor fansThe electricals were changed As new rakes came in they were phased out In 2017 monsoon they were withdrawn from service so that train operations remained smooth a lesson learnt after 2016 monsoon when BHEL trains had been stranded at Sion and other lowlying areas blocking mainline tracks and other trains However a brakebinding incident on February 2 leading to smoke and interruption in services at Dadar led to questions again on February 12 CR withdrew all trains from active service keeping them only as backup for emergenciesBHEL mishapsgtgt Mar 14 2012 Heavy smoke detected from the second coach of the DadarKalyan local between Thakurli and Kalyan stationsgtgt Apr 8 2012 Three passengers aboard an Ambernath local injured after jumping off on seeing smoke in the coach at Kopar stationgtgt Mar 15 2013 Coach of a Badlapur local caught fire at Ghatkopar stationgtgt May 5 2013 Motor coach of a Kasara local caught fire at Kasara stationgtgt Jan 3 2014 Empty motor coach caught fire in Thanegtgt Mar 20 2014 A Kasara local derailed near Titwalagtgt Apr 3 2014 Motor coach of a Karjat local caught fire at Dadar stationgtgt Apr 14 2014 Smoke seen in motor coach of a Dombivli local at Kopar stationgtgt Feb 2 2018 Smoke and fire damaged a coach of a Thane local at Dadar stationCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates