Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) has decided that the air-conditioned (AC) train might be pulled out of service during incidents such as bandh and during the monsoon. Reason being that at Rs 56 crore, the AC train is the most expensive one and would take longer to repair in case of damages. The issue of suspending operations of the AC train came to the fore on Wednesday, during the bandh enforced in the city by dalit outfits. AC train services had to be withdrawn in view of the fact that a few other suburban trains became the target of stone-pelting by protesters.

An official said, “The AC train cost the railways around Rs 56 core and the next AC train will cost even more because of increase in prices of material. The suspension extends to the monsoon as well, as Mumbai sees the most unforgiving rain during this season and a lot of parts get damaged with water rushing in when tracks get flooded, rendering the trains immovable.”

The average cost of each local train is between Rs 42 and Rs 45 crore and in case of AC trains, electricals are even more delicate than average trains. Another official said, “The AC train is going to be even harder to fix because electricals are very intricate and require more time and money to be fixed."

The WR plans to bring in the next AC train at the end of nine months since the launch of the first one on December 25, 2017, between Borivali and Churchgate. It took the central railway (CR) one whole day to remove its trains that were marooned during the floods in August last year.