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Ask anyone who rides the 8.42 from Thane why they’re hanging off the side, and the answer is rarely a thrill: it’s overcrowding and the heat. That’s the problem Mumbai’s first non-AC local with automatic doors has to solve. A 12-coach rake, built by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, has reached the city for trials, according to The Times of India.
The doors are meant to close once the train is moving and open only at stations, which takes the footboard out of the equation. The catch is that, unlike the AC locals that already work this way, this one has no air-conditioning to fall back on. It’s good news, then, that ventilation is reportedly built into the design. The doors have louvred sections that let air pass when shut, and ventilators sit on the roof. Vestibule connections between coaches mean you can move through the train instead of being stuck in whichever compartment you boarded.
Around 70 to 80 lakh people use the suburban network every day, and riding on the footboard, long a fixture of the Mumbai commute, is a known hazard. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said Mumbai’s locals will eventually get AC coaches with automatic doors, with the Centre’s agreement and without a fare hike. This rake is a step in that direction.
Don’t expect to board it just yet. The rake has already run trials on the 63-km Khajuraho-Mahoba section, and Central Railway will now test it on different stretches of the suburban network. The results will go towards fitness certification and clearance for passenger service.
Will automatic doors mean longer waits at stations?
Probably, yes. Unlike the doors on today’s locals, which are open the whole way, these have to open and close fully at every stop, and that takes time. Add a few seconds to each halt and a network that runs on tight timings starts to feel it, most of all in the morning and evening rush, when the schedule has the least room to give. But for a city that rarely slows down, a few extra seconds at the platform might be a fair trade.