AC local: The future of ‘cool’ rides

It was ‘jugaad’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative that ensured India’s first AC local train’s cost was less than half of what the open markets had to offer. Certain sections of people are already criticising that the AC local is running empty due to high fares and that it has cut into the space of a regular local train which could be used by more than 45,000 people. The Indian Railways need to realise that they are walking on a tight rope and ensure that the AC train becomes popular and fares don’t burn a hole in the pocket.

There is no doubt that AC trains are the future of public transport for a global city like Mumbai. If we look at the alternate modes of transport, which compliment local trains, we realise that people are already availing AC rides on feeder routes. For instance, the cab services of Uber and Ola are running AC cars, black and yellow taxis are offering AC rides at a 20 per cent surcharge, BEST is reviving its AC buses, Monorail and the vast network of Metro rail, have already provided these services at competitive tariffs.

AC local pricing

The suburban railway ferries 47 per cent Mumbaikars daily, at present — i.e. 75 lakh daily commuters – and yet, as a mode of transport it provides the least comfort that people deserve. In the past few days,  (December 25-29) more than 5,700 people have already travelled in the AC coaches since it became operational on the Western Railway line (WR).

If we take an average, we realise that it is barely 0.03 per cent of the total daily commuters — 35 lakh on WR on the Churchgate-Dahanu route. If the Railways want this number to go up, they will have to devise ways to make AC train travel lucrative. Money plays an important role in ensuring that people take the AC local, which, at present, is running mostly empty. To make matters worse, the fares for are 1.2 times more than regular first class fares, which is likely to increase to 1.3 times from June, 2018.

If one buys a weekly pass for the AC local on the Churchgate-Borivali route, it costs Rs 855, which is just Rs 100 more than the first class pass for the same. The fortnightly pass on the same route is Rs 1,245 for AC local, which is Rs 60 more than a first class monthly pass on the Churchgate-Virar route. When we talk about fares of AC local to Andheri — which is also connected to another mode of AC transport — the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro rail — a single journey till Churchgate costs Rs 125, and a weekly costs Rs 655. A regular commuter would ideally prefer a monthly at Rs 670 for the same.

“When introducing the AC local, the Railways had the opportunity to revise the fare structure. Instead of increasing the AC fares by 1.3 times of first class fares, they could have kept it at par,” said AV Shenoy, member, Mumbai Vikas Samiti, and transport expert. Several experts also mentioned that ideally, to attract commuters, the Railway Board should have lowered first class fares to 6-7 times of general compartment fares (which currently stands at 10 times) and make first class and AC local fares same. Sources in the Western Railway said that they had initially proposed to allow first class pass holders board AC local.

“Of the 37 lakh daily commuters, 11.30 per cent are first class pass holders, of which  only 0.18 per cent are daily ticket holders. We wanted at least season pass holders to use the AC local, which could have helped generate public opinion on it. Also, it could have provided the commuter base for this train and helped assess the demand for AC coaches,” said a WR official.

The officials claim that they had proposed fares as low as Rs 10, with a cap of Rs 85. This could have gained the traction of the 57.25 per cent second class season pass holders, too.

“The Railway Board in Delhi took fare calculation in their hands and fixed high rates for the AC rakes,” said another WR official. As a result, for the first time, suburban local has become more expensive than other modes of transport. The fare of AC local stands at Rs 5 per km, whereas the Metro rate for the same is around Rs 3.7 per km, and Monorail around Rs 2 per km. When it comes to road transport, mobile aggregators are ready to ply at rates as low as Rs 6 per km. The pricing mechanism of inter-city trains from Bandra Terminus and Mumbai Central to Surat are largely different, with first class tickets being costlier than AC chair cars’.

“The pricing of AC local is faulty. In Indian Railways, first class fares are always more than AC chair car fares. If you look at inter-city trains between Mumbai and Surat, you’d realise this,” said Rajiv Singhal, member, Suburban Rail Users Consultative Committee (SRUCC). The WR has sold more than 464 monthly passes of the AC local already and since its launch on December 25, over 34,000 commuters have availed the services, till January 5.

Future plans

The rakes are retrofitted (different parts assembled at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai). This was done to reduce manufacturing cost. However, in the bargain, the quality was compromised. Several teething troubles became apparent which may erupt any time during its run. Broadly, the WR authorities have calculated nearly 50 mistakes that can crop up.

In the open market, a single, fully-made AC rake would cost nothing less than Rs 120 crore, which is double the cost at which its was manufactured. Nine more rakes are underway, as per the scheme. AK Gupta, General Manager, Western Railways, said: “The next AC rake will come after 9 months.”

“What is the point of getting AC trains, when during peak hours, it would hamper the commute of nearly 720 people per 12-car train, who stand near the doors. The best thing is to augment services. With AC trains coming in, it will only lower the carrying capacity,” said Sudhir Badami, transport expert.

However, the railway officials insist that the AC local will have more carrying capacity — 5,964 passengers, with 1,028 seating and 4,936 standing capacity. Regular trains have a carrying capacity of around 4,500 during peak hours. The fact remains that the number of people using the rail network to the suburbs are increasing. “The services of the AC local was launched with much fanfare at the cost of hardship for more than 50,000 passengers. They were inconvenienced due to disruption of regular locals plying on a schedule that has been given to AC locals,” said Anil Galgali, commuter activist.

After the quadrupling of tracks between Borivli and Virar, the number of local train commuters grew seven times, from 0.17 million in 2001 to 1.22 million in 2011. Under these circumstances it would be interesting to see how the AC local would fare, with 12 services daily.