Nearly 35 per cent of the trains plying on the suburban section of the Central Railway are over 30 years old. This is five years beyond the average codal life of a train for smooth operations on the tracks. Around 42 trains, which are part of a fleet of 117 trains running on the main and harbour lines of CR, are 30 years or older. Most of these trains ply on the harbour line on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-Panvel route used by over 10 lakh commuters every day. Some of these trains operate on the main line too.

Once the power supply is upgraded from 1,500 volts DC to 25,000 volts AC, the old rakes will be phased out. Earlier, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was shocked by the conditions of rakes plying on the central and Harbour lines during his visit to CST on April 16. Railway officials had admitted that the minister ordered an immediate improvement in the condition. File pics