On the Main line, CR operates 45,220 km with 75 rakes, while WR covers 44,429 train km with 83 rakes. File pic for representation. (mid-day)
Officials from Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) presented some astounding facts about the suburban train system to the Railway Board members last week in a meeting. For instance, the total distance covered by all local trains on both WR and CR is almost thrice the circumference of the earth.
The reality of the overburdened suburban rail system is this CR trains run 69,516 train km with 121 rakes, while WR plies 44,568 train km every day operating with 84 rakes. Both the lines combined cover 1,14,084 train km, which is nearly thrice the circumference of the entire earth which stands at 40,075 km.
On the Main line, CR runs 45,220 km with 75 rakes while WR covers 44,429 train km with 83 rakes. "Our trains run longer journeys every day on the suburban section with limited trains," said a CR official.
Over the last few days, there have been several problems on CR, which is creating hassles for commuters. Authorities blame them on the old rakes powered by the obsolete 1,500-volt supply system.
CR has nearly 30 DC rakes that ply on both Main (CST-Karjat/ Kasara/Khopoli) and Harbour lines (CST-Panvel/Andheri and Thane-Vashi and Turbhe-Nerul sections). WR, on the other hand, runs entirely on 25,000-volt AC supply. Despite this, CR takes lesser time to cover the longest distance as compared to its equivalent on WR.
The CST-Kasara journey (121 km) takes 2 hours 10 minutes, as compared to 2 hours 49 minutes taken by a Churchgate-Dahanu train (124 km). Similarly, a Churchgate-Virar fast train takes 102 minutes, while a CST-Ambernath local train takes 99 minutes both distances are 60 km.