The AC local train during last two years has earned Rs.40.03 crore from 95.81 lakh passengers during last two years claimed western railway.
The air conditioned local train’ finally became a reality on 25 December, 2017, when the country’s first & only air-conditioned suburban train started its maiden run from Borivali and headed to its destination at Churchgate.
The ‘air conditioned local train’ with state-of-the-art security features consists of automatic door closing system, talk back system & fire fighting system in each coach, etc. Though the ridership of the AC local was minimal in the early days but slowly & steadily it started gaining momentum and became a major hit among the commuters during the sweltering summer months.
The AC local train initially was running between Churchgate & Virar section with total 12 services (6 services in UP & 6 services in DOWN direction) on all days except on Saturday & Sunday, when it is taken up for maintenance but w.e.f. 14th September, 2019, it is also running on Saturdays & Sundays, making available the cool journey to Mumbaikars on all 7 days of the week.
Out of these 12 services, 8 run as fast local trains between Churchgate & Virar, while 3 fast services run between Churchgate & Borivali. The remaining one service runs as slow service from Mahalaxmi to Borivali, which stops at all intermediate stations. For the convenience of ladies, senior citizens & Divyanjans, separate coaches have been reserved for Ladies and similarly seats have also been earmarked for Senior Citizens/Divyangs.
The 1st and 12th coach from Churchgate end are reserved as Ladies coaches and 7 seats in 2nd and 11th coach from Churchgate end are earmarked for Senior citizens while 10 seats in 4th and 7th coach from Churchgate end are earmarked for Divyangs.
Primarily, the ticket price for a single journey on the AC train was 1.2 times that of the same journey in First Class as an introductory offer, but w.e.f. 1st June, 2019 it was decided as 1.3 times of the base fare of existing single journey of Ist class ticket.
Unlike regular local trains, the AC EMU service has the facility of special weekly and fortnightly season ticket. From the time of its inception on 25th December 2017 to 25th December, 2019, so far 95.81 lakh passengers have travelled by the AC local, generating revenue of Rs.40.03 crore. On an average approximately 18000 passengers travel daily by AC local, with about 1500 passengers travelling in each service.
