dna exclusive: Mumbai AC local unlikely to meet July deadline

The air-conditioned local train for Mumbai is almost certain to miss the July deadline set for it by the railway ministry. Railway minister Malikkarjun Kharge had announced during the railway budget on February 12 that the train would make its inaugural run in July this year.

The fact that the deadline will be missed came up during a high-level meeting for the construction of the train held at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai on Tuesday. It was only the second meeting on the AC train project at Chennai, said sources. The railway board has instructed the ICF to conduct weekly meetings to ensure that the project is completed 'as fast as possible'.

According to sources, while certain electrical equipment have started coming in, procurement of a lot of other parts is at such a stage that physical construction of the shell of the train is unlikely to begin before mid-May. The most important electrical equipment — the three-phase electrical motors — are to be supplied by government major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and they are still in design stage, said officials.

"This is a totally new product. So, one can imagine that even if the ICF tried its level best, it wouldn't be able to come up with a 12-coach AC train in two months flat," said a senior railway official. Secondly, at a tentative cost of Rs43.2 crore (with a lot of imported equipment, including the vestibules and the sandwich flooring), the first AC rake is far costlier than the Bombardier rake and the railway board does not want the ICF to go wrong with it.

"So, it's understandable that the train constructors will not be allowed to do a hurried job," said a top-level railway official.

As reported by dna in its March 7 edition, the layout and other technicalities of the AC train was approved by the railway board as late as the first week of March. According to officials, for some strange reason the AC train project was never given any importance by either the railway board or the top bosses at Western Railway. Suddenly, possibly with an eye on the assembly elections in the state, the railway budget announced a July deadline for the project.

"It can be showcased as a good achievement for Mumbai by the state government. But it would be better if such projects — many of which cost crores of rupees and are supposed to serve the city for more than a quarter of a century — are carried out professionally rather than with an eye on political gains," said an official.