Sneak peek at first Mumbai-Pune local train

Here's a first look at the all-powerful local train that is expected to run between Mumbai and Pune and Mumbai and Nashik. The train is expected to be in Mumbai in early February for trials. The 12-car train has parking brakes on 32 wheels instead of 16, for it to undergo various mandatory trials such as Emergency Braking Distance, Coupler Force and Controllability trials.

"The train is expected to be at the Kurla car-shed by February 1. It will run between Nashik and Kalyan," Nashik Member of Parliament Hemant Godse who was at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, to inspect the train told mid-day

Why the special local?
The railway distance between CSMT and Pune is 192 km. Of this, local trains already run between the 99.72 km distance of CSMT and Karjat, and the 64 km distance between Lonavala and Pune. However, there are no local trains between the 28 km stretch of Karjat and Lonavala, which is very mountainous and has gradients that incline, requiring steep climbs and slopes, in addition to several tunnels and viaducts on the way. Due to these reasons, a local that can traverse all of this terrain is required. The suggestion was originally put up by retired chief locomotive inspector Waman Sangle, at the Rail Vikas Shivir in 2016. "I submitted a 70-page technical report on the feasibility of the run. Originally, the trials were conducted with existing local trains, but the railways decided to get special local trains from Chennai with more powerful parking brakes and door closing. The train is expected to arrive by January 10 and trials will happen soon," Sangle said.

Talking about the features of the local, a senior CR official said,"We've requested ICF to turn out a 12-car EMU train with parking brakes on 32 wheels, instead of the existing 16 wheels, for various mandatory trials like emergency braking distance, coupler force and controllability in the southeast section between Karjat and Lonavala. The railway board has been insisting on early trials of this with the research, design and standards organisation, the technical consultant of Indian Railways. Since ICF is yet to manufacture six trains for Central Railway, we have requested them to manufacture one with enhanced brakes for CSMT-Pune local trials."

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