City may not get air-conditioned local anytime soon

MUMBAI: The city's desire for a air-conditioned local on its suburban line may not be satiated in the near future with a senior Railway official saying they would first need to study whether the proposal was feasible.

"We find that it would be a costly proposal and would need to do a survey to check it," Chairman of the Railway Board J P Batra said.

"We would need to evaluate whether an entire train should be air-conditioned or just one coach should be converted. Also factors like the timing and other details would need to be studied before taking a decision," Batra said.

Batra sid the Western Railways could appoint a consultant to study the proposal and give a report within the next six months following which they could decide the feasibility of the project.

Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had earlier said the ministry would consider introducing an airconditioned train on the city's suburban rail network.

Batra, who is to retire soon, was in the city on Saturday to see the new train to be introduced on the suburban railway network.