Mumbai : Central Railway (CR) which is reeling under ever increasing pressure for increasing suburban services has come up with in an innovative idea to have ‘gents special coaches’ in ladies special trains.
To meet the demand of increasing commuters travelling on trans-harbour line, three coaches specifically for male commuters will be demarcated in the two ladies special trains that ply during morning and evening peak hours. The trans-harbour line, which stretches from Thane to Vashi, has a limitation of 210 train services.
The restricted number of services has caused wide gaps between two consecutive trains which is the cause of concern for commuters who are made to wait close to 30 minutes to get their foot on the train.
In such circumstances, CR officials have been receiving complaints from commuters who are made to wait and look on as ladies trains ply comparatively empty. In various request and complaints severed state that most of these ladies special trains are empty during the night. Male commuters board these trains as the next train would be after 20 minutes.
After viewing the situation officials have decided to have three coaches dedicated for male commuters in these female special trains. The trans-harbour line which caters to over 2 lakh commuters is also likely to get new Siemens make of trains which is further set to improve the situation.
“New services will be introduced following the induction of new Siemens make of trains on CR which will take another month,” said an official from CR. Siemens train will be inducted on trans-harbour line after train which was a part of MUTP-II will be inducted on Western Railway.
Officials are also working on expediting the process of converting the traction on the harbour line from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) which is expected to be completed on March 2016.
