Mumbai: Honey, they’ve shrunk our local trains!

While commuters have been debating fares and the pros and cons of airconditioned AC trains it has largely gone unnoticed that these trainsmdashwith which the entire fleet will be gradually replacedmdashhave dramatically shrunk the capacity of Mumbai localsA detailed study has also revealed that there is a difference in the carrying capacity among existing regular nonAC trains on both the cityrsquos rail lines The findings are part of a firstever official interim report that has been chalked out by a consultant as a part of the proposed strategy to upgrade regular local trains into AC trains in a phased manner over the next few yearsSeat discrepanciesDuring the research for the report the consultant calculated the number of seats that existing local trainsmdashAC and nonACmdashhave It has been revealed that the capacity of AC trains is comparatively lesser than their regular counterparts Moreover it has also been revealed that different types of regular nonAC trains in Mumbai have different capacities on different railwaysAC train commuters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on September 21 File PicAshish RajeOn Central Railway CR there are three variants of regular nonAC trains Siemens Medha and Bombardier with the former having more seats 1174 than the other two which both have 1168 seats The existing AC local train variant of BHEL has a seating of 1028 passengers which means about 140 passengers less as compared to a nonAC train One train conducts 1314 trips on an average per day with the total number of daily services on CR being 1810 including 66 AC services trips With about 142 seats less in the train for every single trip the capacity would be reduced by nearly 25 lakh commuters after all trains are upgraded to ACWR woesOn Western Railway WR there are also three variants of nonAC trainsmdashSiemens Medha and Bombardiermdashwhich can accommodate 1174 1116 and 1170 passengers respectively The AC local trains here come in two variantsmdashBHEL and Medhamdashwith the former and latter having a seating capacity of 1028 passengers and 1118 respectively The total number of daily services trips on WR is 1394 including 96 AC ones With about 142 seats less in the train for every single trip the capacity would be reduced by nearly two lakh commuters after all trains upgraded to ACA detailed study has found that regular trains have substantially more seating capacity than their nonAC counterparts Representation PicSatej ShindeSignificance of findingsThis means that the existing AC trains have lower seating capacity than regular ones in an era when crowdbuster trains are the need of the hour Interestingly while planning for capacity and seating the interim report has taken 1028 as the default total seating for the new proposed AC locals which means less than the existing nonAC trains This has led to concerns as it could lead to more crowding shrinking the overall capacityExpert SpeakldquoI will say Railways should start AC trains with maximum capacity The existing eightcar series Medha of AC trains have more capacity than the older seven series BHEL In the future the Railways should settle for maximumcapacity trainsrdquo said former Western Railway Mumbai Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee Member Rajiv SinghalShailesh Goyal a former member National Railway Users Consultative Committee suggested that new AC trains should have Metrotype seating ldquoCommuters in Mumbai do not bother about seats The train should have more carrying capacity A Metrotype arrangement should suit one and allrdquo he saidA V Shenoy senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum amp Mumbai Vikas Samiti on the other hand said ldquoI donrsquot think Metrotype seating will help The Railways should make space for more seating When passengers pay so much for an AC commute one expects a comfortable journey The suburban travel distances are long and hence travel time is more Railways need to provide more sitting accommodation For Metros the travel distance and time are short Hence passengers do not mind standingrdquoTaking about the lower capacity of AC locals Jagdeep Desai an architect academician and founder trustee and chairperson of the Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai said ldquoThat is because it probably has some space taken up by electrical and air conditioning equipment Theres bound to be some give and take In the long run I do not think this is not a major constraintrdquoSeating figuresWestern RailwayRegular nonAC trainsTypes Total seatsSiemens 1174Medha 1166Bombardier 1168AC local trainType Total seatsBHEL 1028Medha 1118Central RailwayRegular nonAC trainsTypes Total seatsSiemens 1174Medha 1168Bombardier 1168AC local trainType Total seatsBHEL 10281174Current capacity of a 12car nonAC Siemens train1028Proposed capacity of a 12car BHEL AC train