Marathi Signboard 'Errors' On Mumbai's Non-AC Local Train, Railways Clarifies Amid Outrage

Mumbai: The new non-Air Conditioned (AC) local train equipped with automatic doors that arrived in Mumbai for trial runs, is back in controversy.

Facing a backlash from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) for using Marathi only for compartment identification, the Railways put up signboards in Marathi inside the coaches. However, the Marathi sentences displayed on the boards are erroneous.

Following this, the Central Railway has come up with a clarification. Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Central Railway, said, "This rake has been brought for trials by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the Indian Railways. It has not yet been made available for passenger use. Once this rake is ready, information will certainly be provided in all three languages - Marathi, Hindi, and English. It is premature and inappropriate to offer comments or criticism regarding these matters at this stage. My only request is that one should ascertain the actual facts before making any remarks."

The CPRO further said, "The rake that has arrived in Mumbai has been brought in only for testing purposes and will be made available to general commuters only after all the necessary tests are completed."

One of the main concern raised by commuters against the new non-AC train was inadequate ventilation saying, it will suffocate commuters, even though the windows are bigger than those on the current open-door local trains.

Speaking about this, Nila said that the most significant feature of this train is its automatic doors, which will effectively curb accidents involving passengers. "Furthermore, a ventilation system has been installed in every coach for passenger convenience. The window width in each coach is also greater than that of the older coaches. In regular coaches, the window length is approximately 900 centimetres; in contrast, the window length in these local trains has been increased to 1900 centimetres," he said.

The CPRO also said that the new train will have modern facilities and from safety aspect, fire detection systems have been installed on the end panels of every coach.

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