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Dutch firm behind city's AC rake gives it all-clear

In reply to a dna query on whether the saline air and humidity of Mumbai will have an effect on the air-conditioned rake's performance, Leo Koster, senior project manager of Strukton Rail, replied in the negative.

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Netherlands-based railway firm Strukton Rail — which has manufactured the power systems and the computerised train management mechanism of the city's first air-conditioned local rake — is confident that the product is one that will do well in the varied weather conditions of Mumbai.

In reply to a dna query on whether the saline air and humidity of Mumbai will have an effect on the air-conditioned rake's performance, Leo Koster, senior project manager of Strukton Rail, replied in the negative. "The propulsion systems and the control of the air-conditioned EMU (electrical multiple unit, which is railway lingo for local trains) has been designed as per Indian Railway specifications, which envisages all operating and weather conditions of the Mumbai region," Koster told dna over email. Strukton is partnering Bangalore-based Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) to build the power and control mechanism of the rake. The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai has built the rake.

Denying that there were any glitches that the train was throwing up while undergoing preliminary checks at Central Railway's Kurla car shed, Koster said, "The testing and commissioning of all sub-systems including the train control and management system (TCMS) of the 12-coach AC rake is progressing as planned. The objective is that there should be no hiccups during the service (field) trials."

Mumbai's first AC rake is currently being prepared for trials at the Kurla car shed, after which it will be put on real-time service trials on the harbour line. The two aspects of the rake that are new to the city and require maximum attention, officials agreed, were the air-conditioning system and the automatic-door mechanism.

The rake boasts of 24 air-conditioning units — 2 per coach — of 15 tonnes, the highest category of ACs ever used in any train in India. The automatic-door mechanism is of particular concern because in a city like Mumbai, where morning and evening peak hours see a local every five minutes, a real-time hitch could delay trains in a cascading manner.

What's expected from the 15 tonne AC units:

1: It must supply 0.14 metre cube of fresh air per person per minute
2: Total fresh air supplied into the coach should be 70 metre cube per minute
3: It should be able to work when a coach is crowded with up to 500 passengers
4: It should bring relative humidity within the coach to about 60%
5: It should be able to work when outside temperatures are anything up to 40 degrees Celsius
6: It should be able to work when the train is travelling at speeds of 120kmph120kmph

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