RailEnquiry

MUMBAI: Commuters will have to wait longer for Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) type suburban services between Dahanu and Churchgate as Western Railway (WR) will be unable to run the services in this financial year even though it had been promised in the 2012-2013 railway budget.WR sources said that they did not have adequate rakes to start these services and is now likely to run these services by the second week of April, 2013.Besides shortage of rakes, there were safety and time table issues related to the Dahanu services. WR's general manager Mahesh Kumar said , "We had to give rakes to Central Railway as they were facing a crunch in running more services. We are undertaking retrofitment of a rake that will take a few days to complete and are planning to run these services by April 10."The suburban system is also fitted with an auxiliary warning system (AWS) to ensure that the EMU comes to an immediate halt even if the motorman accidentally jumps the red signal. Kumar said, "Initially, we planned to run these services without AWS but now feel that the Dahanu EMU should run only after AWS is provisioned."While WR had initially decided to run 8 services only between Dahanu and various destinations between Virar and Churchgate, the GM said that there will be at least 12 services run during peak hours.

As of now, WR operates suburban trains till Virar and 18 main line electric multiple unit (MEMU) shuttle services from Virar to Dahanu Road. While one MEMU can ferry 2,000 passengers, an EMU can carry more than double this number during peak hours.

A PIL was filed in the Bombay HC to start suburban services between Virar and Dahanu. The plea stated that the plan to extend local trains till Dahanu was taken in 2002, with a project deadline of 2007. Dahanu commuters are miffed with the delay. Paresh Mhatre, a Dahanu resident said, "The excuses do not hold. These measures should have been taken in advance."

WR introduced 40 services on March 29 between Churchgate and Virar. Commuters feel some these should have been set aside for Dahanu. Kumar said, "It is not possible to set aside some of these services for Dahanu. The rake linkage and time table has been planned based on stabling lines, termination and originating stations and service timings."