AC local picks up pace, steady rise in revenue

MUMBAI: The earnings from Mumbai’s first-ever suburban AC train (Churchgate to Virar) have been steadily climbing since its launch in late December 2017. With the ongoing summer season, the AC local has been getting a good response and its earnings have improved over the last two months.

The earnings in April were Rs 1.52 crore for the AC local that ferried 3.54 lakh passengers. In March, the AC local earned only Rs 1.32 crore by ferrying 3.13 passengers. The January earnings from the train were below Rs 1 crore. The local was launched on December 25, 2017. Western railway (WR) officials said that it  was getting a particularly good response from the Borivali, Andheri and Bandra stations.

As per the data, the earnings of the AC local in December 2017 were a mere Rs 499,927 by carrying only 9,009 passengers, whereas in January, the train ferried 1,77,447 passengers and earned Rs 81,25,655. In February, the AC local carried 228,859 passengers and earned Rs 9,923,060. Three of the 12 AC local services were getting a very good response i.e. 7.54 am Borivali to Churchgate; 10.22 am Virar to Churchgate; and 7.49 pm Churchgate to Virar.

The seating capacity of the AC local is 1,028 while a total 5,000 passengers (both standing and seated) can travel by the train. At present, around 4,000 commuters travel in the AC rake during peak hours.

The WR hopes that the AC local will get more passengers as the temperatures rise towards May end. At present, AC services are plied five days a week, with services being suspended for maintenance work on the remaining two days.

Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer (CPRO), WR, said, "The AC local train has picked up pace in the summer season. We hope that the trend will continue. We are getting a good response during peak hours. During non-peak hours, the train is occupied by 70 per cent passengers. Most of the passengers are from Borivali to Bandra.”