Railway officials have managed to zero in on one of the most important design details of the first-ever air-conditioned Mumbai local—how vestibules connect the 12 coaches of the train.
Officials said vestibules would be placed in such a manner as to enable people to walk from the first to the sixth coach from both ends. The middle portion would out of bounds as that is where the train's electric motors are.
These vestibules is of Chinese-make and the contract to procure them has been given to a Lucknow-based firm, said officials.
"Of course, in Mumbai there are separate compartments for first class passengers, women, the handicapped, etc. That design may not be followed here as that would be a completely new segment for Mumbai suburban railway. The electrical motor bifurcate the train and people can walk through a set of six coaches," said a railway official.
After a slow start, pace of construction of the train at Integral Coach Factory in Chennai had picked up, said officials. The work schedule should allow ICF to send the train to Mumbai by next January end.
"The electrical equipment is being tested at Bhopal by BHEL and Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO). It should be send to Chennai in a few weeks time," said officials.
The dampener for Mumbai commuters, however, is that officials are unable to give a time-frame on when the train would hold its trial runs. "It has taken over a year to test the two Bombardier rakes. The AC rake is a completely new product, and so, if the same yardstick is applied, it might take almost a year to test it," said the official.
This means, the train may not be deployed before the end of next year, said some officials.
"While for many years everyone agreed that Mumbai's massive suburban system needed a completely new air-conditioned segment, the speed at which the plan is being implemented is poor. Even now, there is no clarity on how many AC rakes would be finally deployed. These are decisions that need to be taken quickly, because manufacturing these rakes takes time," said a senior railway official.
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