Mumbai
The Mumbai Division of WR – which has its office at Mumbai Central – has sent a letter to its headquarters at Churchgate asking for approval to accommodate first class commuters on the AC local
Updated : Jan 11, 2018, 06:40 AM IST
 "AC Local")
Their is still uncertainty over whether first class commuters on the Western Railway will be able to travel in the AC local simply by paying the difference in the price of the ticket to the TC inside the coach. The WR headquarters, to which the proposal has been sent, are apprehensive. The confusion has prompted the WR authorities to take public view, for which a separate link will be made available on their website, where commuters can give their suggestions and recommendations for smoother operations of AC local.
The Mumbai Division of WR – which has its office at Mumbai Central – has sent a letter to its headquarters at Churchgate asking for approval to accommodate first class commuters on the AC local. However, the headquarters is not keen on allowing the first class commuters as it could reign chaos in handling passengers.
"The AC local has been decided to be a different class all together. The Railway Board has decided the fares so there is no question of making any changes now unless they approve," said a WR official.
In the last two days, the situation inside the AC local has been said to have been terrible. TCs claim that people holding first class passes and tickets are entering the AC local and arguing with them. "It had become very difficult to control the crowd.
Many were fined by the TCs. However, many had to be left simply by asking them to vacate the train. The numbers of passengers huge which made it difficult even for the TCs and RPF staff posted inside to control them," said another WR official.
The Mumbai Central Division of WR wants at least the Season Pass holders of First class to travel inside AC local if not the daily ticket holders, to improve ridership. At this point of time, the AC local services are running more or less empty through the day. Senior WR officials from headquarters stated that the maximum that they can think of agreeing is to allow passengers holding first class season tickets to pay the difference at the ticket counter and then enter the AC local.
"Handing over a handheld machine to the TC for collecting the difference from first class passengers travelling inside isn't practically possible. How will we monitor the huge crowd which would enter the AC local, which will only make it chaotic and difficult to handle," said another WR official.
Since December 25 till January 8, the WR has sold 6,155 AC local tickets that have been used by 53,610 commuters and has earned Rs 22.70 lakh on ticket sales. Of the 35 lakh commuters on WR, 11 per cent are first class season pass holders, while only a mere 0.18 per cent of them buy daily first class tickets. The fares of AC local are 1.2 times more than regular first class fares.
Number of tickets sold: 6,
Earning between December 25 and January 8: Rs 22.7 lakh
Cost of AC local: Rs 54 crore
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