22 January,2025 03:58 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
File pic
Central Railway (CR) will operate four air-conditioned special train services between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in an effort to fulfil demand from passengers.
These services will also benefit the fans who are planning to attend the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad this weekend.
The details of the trains are as under:
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT)-Ahmedabad-LTT AC Special (2 trips)
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The 01155 AC special will depart LTT Mumbai at 12.55 am on Saturday and arrive Ahmedabad at 11 am.
The 01156 AC special will leave from Ahmedabad at 2 am on Sunday and will arrive LTT Mumbai at 11.45 am.
The train will halt at Thane, Bhiwandi Road, Kaman Road, Vasai Road, Vapi, Udhna, Surat and Vadodara stations.
It will comprise two 1st AC-cum-2AC, four 2AC, 14 3AC and a generator car.
Dadar-Ahmedabad-Dadar AC Special (2 trips)
The 01157 AC special will depart Dadar at 12.35 am on Sunday and arrive Ahmedabad at 11 am.
The 01158 AC special will leave from Ahmedabad at 2 am on Monday and reach Dadar at 12.55 pm on the same day.
It will halt at Thane, Bhiwandi Road, Kaman Road, Vasai Road, Vapi, Udhna, Surat and Vadodara stations.
The train will comprise two 1st AC, two 1st AC-cum-2AC, one 2AC, two 2AC-cum-3AC, nine 3AC and two second seating-cum-guard's brake van.
Passengers can make the bookings for the trains 01155 and 01157 AC special on special charges from Thursday at all computerised reservation centres and on www.irctc.co.in.
For detailed timings at halts of the special trains, passengers can visit www.enquiry.indianrail.gov.in or download NTES App, the Central Railway stated in a press release.
The âExpected in Minutes' (EIM) panels on platform indicators of Central Railway in Mumbai have been non-functional for the past three years, despite repeated assurances that they are being tested and will be operational soon. As a result, commuters at railway stations have no way to know how long it will take for a train to arrive.
While private and third-party mobile apps provide such information, the railway's official system has yet to catch up. At most stations, the EIM panels are either blank or display "zero." The delay stems from the ongoing process of linking and integrating the Train Management System software with these indicators, which has been in progress for the past three years.
"Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, also minister for information technology, electronics and information & broadcasting was in Mumbai last week to announce a unified ticketing system âMitra' for seamless multimodal travel based on Open Network for Digital Commerce in Commuter Convenience (ONDCC), but the team at Central Railway in a city like Mumbai cannot fix their indicators since past three years," Jayesh Ashteley, a commuter from Dadar said.
"The indicators and âExpected in Minutes' countdown work well on Western Railway trains but have not been functional here. It proves very helpful at one glance of the indicator. We need to check for the apps separately to get authentic data on the location and movement of the train. The railways should provide their own real-time data so there is no confusion," another commuter said.
"The problem also leads to safety issues. It is leading to crowding on foot overbridges at stations like in this instance Ghatkopar. People wait on the bridge for slow or fast trains and then run for whichever arrives. It may lead to accidents," another commuter said. "I have continuously tweeted about this major issue but the Central Railway has no answers," commuter advocate Rajesh N Kalote said.
What is the problem?
Sources said that the Train Management System (TMS) software was initially installed by one company, but it has since been taken over by another. As a result, there is no technical support, no electronic cards available, and no Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs) in place. Finalising a new tender will take time, with the estimated cost ranging between Rs 300-400 crore for implementation up to Kasara, Karjat, and the Harbour line.
Official comment
"The process to import the required equipment from abroad has begun and this year the EIM will be commissioned between CSMT to Kurla," an official spokesperson said.
