Non-availability of rakes plagues Central Railway local service

Central Railway (CR) is not in a position to improve frequency of local trains immediately because of non-availability of rakes, a top official has said.

"First, there are no rakes available to improve frequency of local trains. There is not even an extra rake, hence we have no margin to improve the services immediately. Secondly, the problem is compounded because of the overhead DC wires," CR general manager VK Kaul said here.

He, however, said certain changes could be made once rakes become available by December-end.

"Currently, 150 rakes are being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in Tamil Nadu and the first batch is expected to become available by December-end," he said.

The new rakes will be introduced in Mumbai first and the replaced DC rakes from the megapolis will be shifted to the Pune division as an intermediate arrangement, Kaul said.

The interiors of the new rakes would be like that of an air-conditioned train but its doors will not remain closed, he added.

CR is also carrying out conversion of the overhead DC wires and about 60 per cent of work between Pune-Mumbai track has been completed. Kaul said CR's revenue target for the current fiscal was Rs 4,874 crore.

In the first four months of the current financial year, the earnings from the goods services have been Rs 950 crore, which is 35 per cent above the earnings reported in the corresponding period last year.

He said there was a drop in the passenger train earnings during the first four months of the current year due to reduction of fare by Re 1 in the suburban section last year.

Facilities at five railway stations - Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Miraj - are also being upgraded. To a question, the CR general manager said there was a plan to set up major cargo complexes at Saswad, Loni and Jejuri.

"As Pune was very congested, it was not a right idea to have 200 trucks coming in a day to unload goods from a single rake. Therefore, it was a requirement of the time that cargo complexes were set up outside the periphery of the city, which the railway was doing in association with the Central Warehousing Corporation," Kaul said.

CR is also setting up a coaching terminal for Pune at Golpuri yard at a cost of Rs 5 crore. Initially, it would have two washing lines and subsequently more will be added, he said.