CHENNAI: The decision of the Railway Board (RB) to change the rake composition on the Coimbatore-Mumbai LTT (Kurla) Express has been met with criticism by rail passengers. While sleeper coaches were reduced from 11 to two, 3AC ones have been increased from five to 10. This, passengers said, would force them shell out more money for travel.
The revised rake composition would come into effect when the train starts running with LHB rakes from November 25 from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai) and November 27 from Coimbatore. Similar changes are on the cards for few more long-distance trains in the coming months, according to official sources. This is in accordance with RB’s decision to standardise rakes of such trains.
Coimbatore-Mumbai LTT Express is the only daily train between Coimbatore and Mumbai LTT and has been carrying thousands of passengers for the past 30 years. Close to 25 lakh TN natives reside in Mumbai and neighbouring districts, according to a Mumbai-based rail passengers association. The train passes through Bengaluru city and maintains an average occupancy of 95 % throughout the year.
T Appadurai, general secretary, Mumbai Tamilian Train Passengers Welfare Association, said the composition should not be changed without operating more trains on the section. “We want at least seven sleeper coaches on any long-distance train. Hundreds of thousands of people from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem, Erode and Coimbatore travel on this train. The railways must reconsider its decision.”
K Sakthivel, a commuter from Salem, said: “The railways has been boasting about not increasing fare for several years. However, changing the composition will effectively increase ticket fare by about 200% (as passengers would be forced to take 3AC tickets). It will take around Rs 7,000 for two persons for a two-way journey between Mumbai and Erode.” Sleeper class fare between Mumbai and Coimbatore is Rs 625, 3AC Rs 1,670 and 2AC Rs 2,415. When asked, railway officials said the Central Railway, which maintains the train, made the changes as per RB’s policy.