It is really sad that the commuters are put to test because of the delay in local trains after the introduction of A/C trains in the Churchgate-Borivali Western Railway route. This sets a bad precedence as the entire Mumbai public in this route depend on local trains and even a slightest delay will cause problems to the commuters. The conversion of DC to AC of the overhead power supply system from 1500 Volt DC to 25,000 Volt AC traction on the rail route is facilitate quick transportation of commuters and any further delay in the morning and evening hours may upset the balance of the regular commuters going for work to South Mumbai and return back home. Instead of putting the daily commuters to test, the A/C train time is to be made flexible to provide easy passage to both A/C train and no A/C train passengers in the next couple of days to avoid any further delay in running of local trains on WR. A/C local halts for 60 seconds at a station and thereby the corresponding time of other trains is delayed. Thus A/C trains slow down the mobility of other trains to a great extent. The major hurdle in this regard is that the A/C locals take a minute to open and close and take away 60 seconds, whereas regular locals halt for 20 seconds at stations. And that is the reason for causing undue delay.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
