The Railway Ministry is yet to respond to IRCTC over their dream plan of running air-conditioned local trains in Mumbai.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) plans to try its hand at running air-conditioned local trains in the city have run into a wall of silence by the railway ministry, which is yet to get back to the catering unit.
Speaking to dna, IRCTC chairman and managing director Dr AK Manocha confirmed as much, saying that the next step - preparing a detailed report on how to go about the work - will now begin only after the ministry's response.
As dna had reported in its February 2 edition, the ministry had asked IRCTC to come up with a financial model to run AC locals in the city. The city is expected to get its first AC local by the end of June, and if all goes according to plans, it should be commissioned after the monsoons.
The plan, according to officials, was to see if IRCTC could run the AC suburban segment as a separate one, the way it runs tour packages. However, the ministry's snail pace in responding means the latter is keen to give Western Railway - as well as Central when it starts its own AC local segment - a chance to run the trains.
"The ministry's thinking is that this should be a new segment with different fares, higher than the first-class fares. The plan to rope in IRCTC was possibly to see if the railways could give added value to people buying an AC train's season pass," said a senior railway official.
As reported by this paper, officials are betting big on the AC segment which they believe has the potential to de-congest first-class compartments while earning higher revenue. If the first AC local is a success, the ministry, which has placed orders for another nine rakes, will make them part of the AC fleet. This would mean Mumbai will have 10 air-conditioned rakes, each with the potential to make at least 10 trips a day.
These officials agree it is a shame that the financial capital of the country, which contributes the most to the Centre's kitty, still does not have AC trains for its citizens. "This is despite the number of cars on the city's roads increasing annually (the city currently has some 23 lakh vehicles) and the road length remaining around 1,900 km, something that has been unchanged for several years now," said an official.
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