On April 16, to commemorate the 172nd anniversary of the Indian Railways, Central Railway (CR) launched 14 new air-conditioned local train services on its Mumbai main line, providing much-needed relief to commuters in the summer heat, as reported by PTI. Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway, said, seven of the 14 newly introduced AC services were operational by the afternoon, with the remaining trains set to run later in the day. The new services replaced the existing non-AC services. With this, the CR's main line now has 80 AC services, up from 66 previously.
In the past, the substitution of conventional non-AC services with AC services, particularly during peak morning and evening hours, sparked discontent among some commuters because the fare for these trains is significantly higher. The new AC local trains will operate from Monday to Saturday, according to PTI. Every day, the CR operates 1,810 suburban services and transports over 35 lakh commuters via its Main, Harbour, Trans-Harbour, and Belapur-Uran suburban lines.
On this day, 172 years ago, the first passenger train in India went from Bori Bunder (now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai) to Thane.
AC Local Timetable in Central Line:In the Up direction, the Kalyan to CSMT AC train will leave Kalyan at 7:34 am and reach CSMT at 9:05 am. Badlapur CSMT will depart at 10:42 am and reach CSMT at 12:12 pm. Similarly, there will be four AC trains from Thane to CSMT- departing at 1:28 pm, 3:36 pm, 5:41 pm, and 7:49 pm from Thane and reaching CSMT at 2:25 pm, 4:34 pm, 6:40 pm, and 8:48 pm, respectively.
Other new AC train services include Badlapur to Thane, which will depart Badlapur at 11:04 pm and reach Thane at 11:59 pm, and Thane-Vidyavihar AC local, which will depart Thane at midnight and reach Vidyavihar at 12:23 am.
In the Down direction, the AC train will operate from Vidyavihar to Kalyan, which will leave Vidyavihar at 6:26 am and reach Kalyan at 7:25 am. The CSMT-Badlapur AC train will depart CSMT at 9:09 am and reach Badlapur at 10:32 am.
The CSMT to Thane service will have four services departing CSMT at 12:24 pm, 2:29 pm, 4:38 pm, and 6:45 pm and arriving in Thane at 1:20 pm, 3:25 pm, 5:35 pm, and 7:42 pm, respectively. The CSMT to Badlapur AC service will depart CSMT at 9:08 pm and reach Badlapur at 10:56 pm.