No riddle this: You may travel on even, odd trains

For the 30 lakh-odd commuters in the Western Railway section, introduction of a new concept - odd and even fast trains- will be a boon if technicalities are worked out.

The project envisages odd and even fast trains halting at respective odd and even stations. The project was designed by Vasant Kothari, a mechanical engineer, in 1979. After his death in 1988, his son BV Kothari and daughter-in-law Taru completed the plan and submitted it to the railways. The operations department of the WR is looking into the feasibility of the project.

“Prima facie, the project sounds interesting - specific trains halting at specific stations. However, various technical aspects need to be studied,” said an official from the department.

Taru said the concept of slow trains could be abolished and there would only be semi-fast trains. All stations from Churchgate to Borivali should be numbered, with Churchgate being No 1, Marine Lines No. 2, Charni Road No. 3 and so on, she said.

Taru Kothari explained, “Odd trains will halt at odd stations like Churchgate, Charni Road, Mumbai Central and onwards and even trains will halt at even stations like Churchgate, Marine Lines, Grant Road and onwards.”

The third category of trains, she said, would be termed leap trains. Such trains would stop at each pair of different consecutive stations and would run fast for the next pair of consecutive stations through the up-and-down journey, she said.

Asked how this can be achieved, Taru said, “The system can work on any rail network which has two pairs of tracks. However, the railways need to construct additional platforms at stations which have only one.”

Trains will be colour-coded for easy identification, she added.

The official from the WR operations department, seeking anonymity, said, “Inspectors of the department are studying the feasibility of the project. The report will be submitted to the headquarters. If the recommendations are approved, the proposal can be implemented.”

Odd and even trains will run on track and platform number 1 and 2. They will run throughout the day in an identical manner one after the other at an interval of three minutes. Both the trains - odd and even- will stop at Churchgate and Borivali irrespective of its numbers. This means that commuters would get odd and even train once every six minutes.

Odd fast trains: This would halt at all odd stations making the total number of stoppages 11 from Churchgate to Borivali. It means that every odd train will halt at odd number of stations ie 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and so on.

Even fast trains: These would halt at all even stations making the total number of halts 11 from Churchgate to Borivali. It means that every even train will halt at even number of stations ie 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on.

Leap fast trains: This is the third category for commuters willing to travel from odd to even station. Leap trains will run on track and halt at platform number 3 and 4. They will stop at each pair of different consecutive stations and will run fast for the next pair of consecutive stations through the down-and-up journey.