First run of 12-coach train mixture of success, chaos

The Central Railway (CR) successfully ran its first 12-coach train on Friday, but there was complete chaos as commuters who are yet to be accustomed to the new locations of both the nine and 12-coach trains were seen sprinting to catch the train.

According to officials, the initial fear that the 12-coach train might lead to delayed punctuality of all trains was laid to rest as there was hardly any delay.

“Instead of the 77 minutes it took the train 78 to 79 minutes at the most and it has also clocked 76 minutes on some sections. So it has not affected our punctuality as much as we feared it would,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

The overall performance of the 12-coach train was good but many commuters saw major chaos and confusion as the end of a nine-coach came to a halt three coaches ahead of where they used to earlier. This is because the signal of the start of each platform has been extended to accommodate the 14 services of the 12-coach train. Commuter Savita Sawant (35), who was travelling from Dockyard Road to Vashi in the evening, said she had to make a run for it as the last ladies coach shot past her by a good 60 metres. “I didn’t realise that it was going to halt so far ahead. If I miss this train, I would have had to make my way home in crushing crowd. So I made a run for it and caught it just before it moved,” she said.

The CR is also yet to build the cover-over-platforms for the section that has been extended and paint new signs for changed positions of coaches.