Ten air-conditioned local train services will be operated on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Kalyan section from Thursday, replacing the
ordinary suburban services, the Central Railway said. This is the first time that the Central Railway (CR) is introducing AC locals on its main line, where services are operated from the CSMT to Kasara and Khopoli.
The CR was operating AC local train services on its Thane-Vashi/Panvel trans-harbour line before the coronavirus-enforced lockdown came into force in March this year.
Currently, only staff of the essential and emergency services and those authorised by the government are allowed to travel in local trains, considered, as the lifeline of Mumbai, which resumed operations in June.
Out of the 10 AC local services, two will be operated between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (in Mumbai) and Kalyan (in neighbouring Thane), four between CSMT and Dombivli (Thane) and four between CSMT and Kurla, the CR said in a release on Wednesday.
The first AC local service on the main line will start from Kurla for CSMT at 5.42 am, while the last AC local will depart from CSMT for Kurla at 11.
25 pm, it said. "These train services will run with air-conditioned rakes from Monday to Saturday and will halt at all stations.
Passengers as permitted by the Ministry of Railways and Maharashtra government are only allowed to travel," CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.
He told PTI that the Central Railway has four AC local rakes in its fleet. The CR used to operate 16 AC local services on the Thane-Vashi/Panvel trans-harbour line before the lockdown, he said.
Before the lockdown, the CR used to operate 1,774 suburban services on its main line, harbour line (CSMT to Panvel), trans-harbour line (Thane-Vashi/Panvel) and fourth corridor between Belapur and Kharkopar, before the lockdown. Of these, 858 services were on the main line, according to the CR.
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