16.10.21
11:11
Society
Mumbai local trains to be fully air-conditioned
The Mumbai railways will now get only fully air-conditioned local trains with fare structures on the lines of the Mumbai Metro standards. The design of the trains, to be made by private players, will be changed to match international Metro trains. The decisions were taken during a high-level meeting and sources said the entire process, which began on Tuesday night, would take nearly a decade.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday evening conducted a two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting with divisional railway officials and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to discuss various aspects of the issue and took a few key decisions.
Officials said the first important thing is that the current AC local’s single journey ticket fare will be brought at par with the fares proposed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) or Delhi Metro. The season tickets, that is monthly and other passes, however, will see no change in prices.
The second key decision is that no new non-AC train will be procured for Mumbai suburban railway. All trains will be full AC—a step that will upgrade the suburban railway. The third is that, as per Vaishnaw’s directions, all trains will be designed as per international Metro standards and will be manufactured by private players, Trinity Mirror, a partner of TV BRICS, reports.