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Mumbai: On Thursday, Western Railway's air-conditioned suburban train services were significantly disrupted due to a technical issue, resulting in the replacement of 13 air-conditioned local trains with non-air-conditioned rakes. This disruption, affecting hundreds of commuters, followed a similar issue reported on Wednesday when a technical glitch led to the substitution of over a dozen air-conditioned services with non-AC trains.
Western Railway currently operates 1,394 local services on weekdays, including 79 air-conditioned trains. Of these, 13 were replaced due to the ongoing technical problems, with nearly 50% of the affected services concentrated on the Churchgate-Borivali route.
In response to the frequent disruptions, a senior official from Western Railway stated, "We are looking into the issue." The recurring inconvenience has sparked demands from commuters for refunds on ticket fares for the disrupted air-conditioned services, underscoring the frustration felt by passengers.
Aniket Shah, a frequent commuter from Borivali, emphasized, "The railway should refund the fare difference for pass holders who were impacted by the switch from air-conditioned to non-AC trains."
