Central Railway changes seats in 2 rakes

The Central Railway (CR) has changed the seats of two Seimens trains that were shifted from the Western Railway (WR) to Harbour after commuters complained that they were too high.

The CR, which had allotted 10 of the Seimens-make trains to the Harbour line one-and-a-half-months ago, began to receive complaints stating that the two seats with the fat cushions were too high. As a result of this, commuters were unable to rest their feet completely on the floor of the train.

Commuter Deepti Khera (26) a freelance writer who travels from Kharghar to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), said that although the new trains are quite airy, it had become extremely difficult to travel in these trains during the peak hours. “First, you could not rest your feet properly on the floor so only the tip of your toes would be rested. This brought a lot of pressure on your feet and made it very uncomfortable,” she said.

Another problem with the train was the lack of legroom between seats. “There is absolutely no space between people sitting opposite to each other in the train. As a result of lot of people who stand in the middle of the seats during peak hours have begun to fight with each other because they have the impression that we are making room for them,” added Ms Khera.

Senior CR officials have taken note of the issue and sent the rakes to Kurla car shed for renovations. “We are lowering the height of the seat as well as making more space between opposite seats. This will be done this week itself,” said the official on the condition of anonymity.

The trains were given to the CR, as the WR has been getting 72 brand new Bombardier-make trains. A total of 55 Seimens rakes are expected to come to the CR by mid-year.

The Harbour line is also expecting to see a transition from Direct Current to Alternating Current at the end of this month. It is also slated to see increase in number of coaches from the current nine to 12 in the coming months.