The Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) coaches from Howrah that were brought to the city to ease the demand for more trains will be sent back. It has turned out that overhauling these coaches will turn into too costly an affair for Western Railway. Instead, 10 more rakes (nine or 12 coaches) will be brought from the Kapurthala-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF), while an equal number of direct current compatible coaches will be changed to alternate current.
A first lot of 27 AC-compatible coaches were brought to Mumbai from Howrah and Kolkata to run on the WR corridor in April this year to ease the demand for local trains in the city. However, WR officials said that they are facing huge problems with these coaches, as the coach position of these trains is different from that on Mumbai’s local trains.
The motor coach is in the middle of the local trains on WR, while in the Howrah trains, it is positioned next to the driving cab. WR sources said if they use these coaches as they are, there will be chaos at stations due to the change in the position of coaches like the handicapped and women’s compartments. “The re-composition of these coaches would have been a costly affair and time consuming. So, after a lot of inspection, we decided to send these coaches back, as overhauling would be impractical,” said a WR officer.
There has been a long-standing demand for more coaches and these
dark-green coaches from Howrah would have provided succor to WR.
Authorities in the railways said they are now trying to convert the DC rakes to AC. A new lot of 75 new generations rakes are slated to arrive in the city soon, of which 35 will be given to WR. However,authorities are now trying to induct more trains on an immediate basis to cater to passengers.