With loo-like winds, extremely harsh sun, and the constant urge to have something cold to soothe it all, summer is officially here! Adding to it are reports that show a surge in the demand for AC trains in Mumbai. As per data, both Central Railway and Western Railway have seen an increase in their sale of season tickets for air-conditioned train services in the city. What more is that the Western Railway saw a record footfall of 2.39 lakh passengers in its AC train on a single day! Read on to know more about it.
AC Trains In Demand As Summer Arrives In Mumbai
As the summer season peaks in Mumbai, the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) are seeing a massive surge in demand for AC trains. As per data released by the Railways, nearly 30,000 commuters bought tickets and over 3,500 passengers booked season passes for air-conditioned local trains on WR on April 1. For CR, the authorities reported sales of 2,400 season passes for air-conditioned trains on the same day.
In March, WR sold an average of 1,450 season tickets per day, whereas the number for CR was around 950. Compared to the previous month’s data, this shows a 2.4 and 2.5 times increase in the sale of season tickets for WR and CR, respectively. With a surge in season ticket bookings, the footfall of passengers also saw a rise in these AC services. On April 1, WR’s ridership was recorded to be 2.39 lakh. Meanwhile, the footfall of passengers on CR was recorded to be around 1.57 lakh.
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How Many AC Locals Operate In The City?
The Western Railway operates around 96 AC services in Mumbai. Their average recorded footfall is around one lakh. Central Railway runs 66 AC services in the city daily and their recorded average ridership is around 56,000. There are more AC services likely to be added by WR as they plan to acquire four more rakes soon. The first two of these will be included by June 2024.
Summers are really here and these AC trains are a boon to Mumbai right now! Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments!
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva (representative image)