Study tour: Staff to visit Chennai

Worried over the poor quality of new local trains, Maharashtra government officials will soon visit the train factory in Chennai to inspect the quality of furniture and fixtures installed in the Rs 20-crore new-age train.

The trains, funded by the World Bank, are the responsibility of the Maharashtra government and the Indian Railways. Passengers have complained that the seats in the first class compartment are too close and that there are problems with the quality of furniture and furnishings.

DNA had reported on April 12 that the Rs20-crore, new-age violet local trains were falling apart. Within five years of their arrival in the city, the local railways have already begun to place tenders for repairs/reconditioning of individual items like fans, seats in the trains.

“There have been complaints from passengers about the new trains and I will be visiting the Chennai factory soon,” principal secretary, urban development, TC Benjamin said.

The trains, bought with the help of World Bank funding under the Rs 4,500 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project, introduced in 2007 have been facing a host of problems since they were introduced. While the new train broke down within a year due to faulty motors and had to be replaced with new sets of motors, the trains were taped up in the monsoon so as to prevent leakages in passenger area for the past few monsoons.

The trains had a large number of passenger-related problems like seats facing each other being too close. The local railways then had to spend money to increase legroom between the seats.
The new trains have started rusting and are noisy because of flat wheels. Flat wheels are not round and smooth, but there are small pores in the metal surface that make noise.