As mercury rises in Mumbai, commuters flock to AC trains

Mumbai, Apr 2 (PTI) With temperatures rising in Mumbai, the Western Railway's (WR) air conditioned local trains are witnessing a surge in ticket sales. On April 1, WR issued 3,561 season passes and 23,623 journey tickets for AC trains which was a significant rise compared to the average daily sales figures for February and March this year, a railway spokesperson said on Tuesday.

In February, on average 1,431 season passes and 17,922 journey tickets for AC trains were issued daily, while in March, the numbers rose to 1,452 season passes and 17,981 tickets, he said.

"With the start of the summer, a large number of passengers prefer to travel by AC locals," the WR official said.

The city recorded a maximum temperature of 34.2 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Western Railway currently operates eight AC suburban locals, with 96 AC services running between Churchgate and Virar stations from Monday to Friday, and 53 services running on Saturday and Sunday.

There is so much rush on AC locals during peak hours that Railway Protection Force (RPF) or other railway staff have to be deployed to close the automatic doors of these trains, another WR official said. PTI KK KRK