The Central Railway set a milestone right at the year’s start as its air-conditioned (AC) local ridership crossed 1 crore during the period from April to December 2022. The cool commute also created a record of ferrying more than one lakh passengers in a single day on Jan 2. The success more astounding as the AC locals got lukewarm response initially. “In the start of 2021, average occupancy per AC local was nearly 100 passengers daily, which has now crossed 700 passengers daily,” said the official.
Safe and cool ride leads to popularity
The overwhelming response of passengers opting for the AC locals is due to the fact that it offers safe and cool ride to the passengers. The Ministry of Railways has also slashed the fares of daily tickets up to 50% from May 2022. In September 2022, railways have facilitated first class quarterly, half-yearly and yearly season ticket holders to travel in the AC locals by paying the difference of fare, underlined the official.
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The rising popularity has come with the demand to add more AC services given the surging crowd. “Not just the commuters on the Western line but those on the Central ones need more services, too. These locals are running with full capacity, especially during peak hours,” said Sunita Iyer from Dombivali.
Another commuter Vinod Shelar said, “The CR now needs to increase the frequency of the AC locals. It also needs to come up with a proper maintenance schedule of these trains to avoid sudden cancellation in weekdays.” He was referring to the instances when the AC services were replaced by non-AC ones after technical glitches in the former.
Currently, the CR runs 56 AC services on its suburban section between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Badlapur/Titwala. The first AC local on trans-harbour line was introduced on January 31, 2020 but later the services were shifted on main line due to poor response.
Details of surge in ridership
April 2022
5,92,836
May
8,36,700
June
11,03,969
July
10,79,050
August
12,37,579
September
13,82,806
October, November & December
Above 12,00,000
Railway Official says
In the start of 2021, average occupancy per AC local was nearly 100 passengers daily, which has now crossed 700 passengers daily.
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