CR passengers demand AC local services on Sundays
Local train commuters of Central Railway (CR) have demanded to run the AC service for all seven days a week. Currently, the CR runs AC services from Monday to Saturday. Apart from Sundays, these services are not available on national holidays, too.
A CR spokesperson said, “At the time of notification of the AC local trains, it was informed that the services will not run on Sundays and national holidays.” Sources said that most of the railway staffers get national holidays, hence there is less staff to operate the trains. The CR, therefore, runs 250 less services on national holidays. At present, on weekdays, the CR operates around 60 AC services for around 20,000 commuters, most of them pass holders.
“Even after paying for complete month for the pass, commuters are forced to travel in normal trains on Sundays. Railways should run the services on Sundays too, as many Mumbaikars travel on Sundays as well as on government holidays,” said Siddhesh Desai, general secretary, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.
“When the railways charges for passes, do they give discount for the days when AC locals are not running? Does public holiday mean we should not travel by AC locals,” questioned Nisha Nair, a season ticket holder of AC local, who frequently travels between Dombivali and Currey Road.
“If the Western Railway can operate the AC services on all seven days, then why not CR? It seems CR is least bothered about its premium customers,” said Lata Argade, secretary, Suburban Railway Passengers Association.