India's first AC local train completes two years of service

India's first broad gauge air-conditioned local train, which was initiated by Western Railway, completed two years of its run on Wednesday.

According to a press release. the unique air-conditioned train has received immense appreciation and awesome response from the people of Mumbai, as during the last two years this AC EMU train has earned Rs 40.03 crore from 95.81 lakh passengers.

The country's first "broad gauge air-conditioned EMU" fitted with an indigenous 3-phase propulsion system was received in May 2017 on Western Railway for fulfilling the long-standing demand of Mumbai suburban commuters.

The long-cherished dream of Mumbai citizens for a "Cool Travelling" experience in an "air-conditioned local train" finally became a reality on December 25, 2017, when the country's first and only air-conditioned suburban train started its maiden run from Borivali, said the release.

The "air-conditioned local train" with state-of-the-art security features consists of an automatic door closing system, talk back system and fire fighting system in each coach, etc. Though the ridership of the AC local was minimal in the early days but later it steadily started gaining momentum and became a major hit among the commuters during the sweltering summer months.

Primarily, the ticket price for a single journey on the AC train was 1.2 times that of the same journey in First Class as an introductory offer, but from 1st June, 2019 it was decided to be as 1.3 times of the base fare of existing single journey of the first-class ticket.

According to the release, on an average approximately 18000 passengers travel daily by AC local, with about 1500 passengers travelling in each service.

The AC local also had limited halts. Seeing the great potential for the AC local and in view of public demand, Western Railway provided additional halts to the AC local at Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road and more. With the introduction of these additional halts, the commuters have shown greater patronage for the AC local train. This has generated additional revenue to the Railways.

( With inputs from ANI )