From: [email protected]
To:
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?edorsup=Sup&queryed=820009&ed_page=5&boxid=34587&id=76968&eddate=2015-3-17&ed_date=2015-3-17&ed_code=820009&wintype=popup
Mumbai loses its Goa double-decker train to Southern RlyOn a different track |
Cash-strapped CR can’t afford to run the AC double-decker with empty berths, so
it is moving it to a route ‘where returns are better’ Binoo Nair @nairbinooThe
much-hyped double decker rake which was used on the hugely popular Mumbai-Goa
route a few times by the Central Railway (CR) and Konkan Railway will now
become the pride of Southern Railway’s fleet, because the CR cannot afford to
run the train empty with its current finances.On Monday, CR completed the
formalities to hand over the double-decker rake’s last two coaches to Southern
Railway.Ten of its other coaches as well as the single power-car that powers
the air-conditioned train was sent to Chennai a few days ago.The two coaches
could not be sent with the earlier lot as they had to be sent for a periodic
overhaul and other maintenance procedures.The handover marks the end of what
officials called an ‘uneventful’ run of the double-decker rake in both CR and
KR.In fact, the rake had a bad time right from the word go, as its very first
trip between Kurla LTT and Karmali in Goa was a failure with just 100 of the
960 seats getting sold. This was in August last year.The Ganpati season last
year, when the train was used for 20 premium market-controlled fare trips
between Mumbai and Goa, was also a resounding failure, with occupation of the
train hovering around the 19-percent mark between August and September.“We
cannot be emotional about any train. If for some reason it is not doing well on
a particular zone or route, then we need to shift to some other route where the
returns might be better. The railways is cash-strapped and we cannot allow a
new product like an air-conditioned double-decker rake to suffer from poor
occupancy,” said an official in the know.The other problem, according to the
officials, was to give a permanent slot to the train since KR’s route is
already packed with long-distance and goods trains.The train was brought to the
city in May last year, and tested on the Konkan Railway route between Roha and
Madgaon on May 20-21 to see how the rake — which has a height in excess of the
normal long-distance trains — fared on the route with 68 tunnels.The Research
Design Standards Organisation (RDSO) — the railways’ apex technical authority —
gave its technical clearance to running the train on the Mumbai-Goa route in
June.Published Date: Mar 17, 2015
