Three months on: AC local train fails to fill up half its capacity

With two vestibuled coaches, the AC local’s capacity is three times more than a regular 12-coach local train. Railway officials said the vestibuled space allows more passengers, compared to a regular non-AC 12-coach train that has a capacity of 1,522.

“During rush hours, (number of) passengers using regular local trains is much higher compared to the carrying capacity, which leads to rush in trains. Four trips of the AC local are scheduled in the peak hours — two each in the morning and evening — and the trains are relatively empty. Passengers should switch to the AC local,” the WR official said. In March, the AC local carried 3.13 lakh commuters compared to 2 lakh in February. January saw 1.77 lakh commuters in the train.

While the number of daily commuters using the AC local is on the rise, officials said there has not been a significant rise in earnings. “In February, the earnings from the AC local was Rs 99 lakh compared to Rs 1.32 crore in March. This is because the number of commuters taking season tickets and traveling in the AC local is much more compared to those who take (regular) journey tickets. As season tickets are subsidised, the contribution to earnings is not much,” a WR official said.

The AC train does not operate during weekends for maintenance purposes. According to a senior WR official, the maintenance cost for an AC train is equal to maintaining the chair car coach of a Shatabdi train, thus the cost is much more than a regular local train. “The total unit cost of an AC train is much more than a regular train as it has a different electrical unit, which is maintained by dedicated staff. We are yet to calculate the estimated per kilometre cost incurred in running the AC train,” the official said.

Regular commuters on WR complained that the AC local delays services of regular trains, especially during the peak hours and they do not switch to AC trains due to poor frequency and high ticket costs. “I have travelled in the AC local using a daily journey ticket in January. But that was only because I wanted to experience it. With 12 trips a day, I am unsure whether I would be able to make in time for the train in the evenings after I leave office. This discourages me from switching to AC train,” said Nabha Girije, a freelance writer who regularly travels between Churchgate and Borivali on a first class ticket.

Even regular commuters of the AC local complained that the ticket checking staff are absent during the evening trips. “I pay much more than a regular commuter of WR. It is only fair that the WR sees to it that bona fide passengers travel in the AC train,” said Girish Mahajan, a software professional who uses a season ticket.

The WR may obtain four new AC rakes in September this year, which will allow it to increase the number of trips. In June, the fare of a single journey ticket in the AC local will be 1.3 times the fare of a first-class single journey ticket.