Western Railway to introduce Uttam rake in Mumbai today: Train with improved seating, CCTVs to run from Churchgate to Virar at 6.13 pm

In a bid to upgrade its services, the Western Railway is set to introduce the Uttam rake in Mumbai on Tuesday, the 69th anniversary of its Foundation Day. The train, equipped with improved features such as emergency buttons, improved seating and grab handles, will be run as a Ladies Special between Churchgate and Virar at 6.13 pm on Tuesday, the Western Railways said in a tweet.

On the occasion of 69th Foundation day, WR to introduce "Uttam Rake" with improved exteriors & advanced features like CCTV cameras in all compartments etc. It wl make the journey of commuters memorable. Today this rake will depart from Churchgate at 6.13 pm as CCG - VR Ladies spl pic.twitter.com/Szl6jCRMfr

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) November 5, 2019

This will be the first non-air-conditioned local train to have CCTVs installed in all coaches.

“We are introducing the Uttam Rake with improved exteriors and advanced features on an experimental basis. Further planning will depend on the feedback received from commuters.” Ravinder Bhakar, the chief public relations officer of WR, told  Mumbai Mirror . He added that from 6 November, the Uttam Rake will be put into service 10 times a day.

Apart from the CCTVs, the first-class compartments will have grab handles and seats with brown cushions and higher backrests than those in other trains. The new partitions installed at the doors are made of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) instead of steel and the new luggage racks are wider. Second-class coaches are equipped with dual-lock windows and seats made from fibre-reinforced plastic (FPR) with a wood finish, said the report.

It also has energy-saving fans, and diffused-light LED tubes while the traditional chains have been replaced with a red emergency button. The new rake will feature posters of different types of trains on WR, showing how they have been upgraded. It will also feature posters depicting various Mumbai landmarks and icons, including dabbawallas.

The Uttam rake has been built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Only two have been built so far; the other has been given to South Central Railway, said the report.

Western Railway also flagged off two ladies special trains: one on the CSMT- Panvel route, the second from CSMT to Kalyan, reported ANI.

Western Railway, which caters to around 36 lakh passengers a day, has over 110 rakes and runs 1,367 services daily, including 12 air-conditioned services and 54 services with 15 coaches.

With inputs from ANI