The Western Railway has planned to conduct crucial trials of the 18-coach suburban local trains later this month. At present, the suburban network of the country's financial capital mainly operates 12-coach local trains, with a limited number of 15-coach services on both the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR).
More than 75 lakh passengers commute daily on over 3000 suburban services across the network, according to the news agency PTI. The trials involving two 18-coach local train rakes will be conducted on the Virar-Dahanu Road section in Palghar district, tentatively on January 14 and 15, the officials told PTI on Monday.
An official said two trials -- emergency braking distance (EBD) and coupler force (CF) -- will be conducted on an 18-coach local train fitted with Bombardier electrical equipment and another fitted with Medha electrical systems.
The EBD trials are generally conducted to assess how quickly a train can stop in an emergency, while CF trials determine the force applied on couplers during braking. These tests are mandatory safety parameters before the commissioning of new rolling stock, as per officials.
"The trials will be carried out on suburban local trains fitted with three-phase propulsion systems of Bombardier and Medha," an official said. The trials will be conducted at a maximum speed of 110 kmph for the 18-coach train fitted with the Bombardier electrical system, while the rake fitted with the Medha electrical system will be tested at a maximum speed of 105 kmph.
As per the Western Railway, the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) has asked it to ensure the readiness and proper loading of the rakes for conducting the trials.