Mumbai suburban railway is set for a major upgrade, with the first of 238 new AC local trains expected to hit the tracks by 2027.

Indian Railways announced this week that it’s changing how these trains will be built to get them running faster.

The original plan was to award the manufacturing contract to a single company through an international tender. That process, first floated back in June 2023, kept getting delayed.

By the time officials reviewed the timeline, they realised the full fleet wouldn’t have been ready until 2034, with even the first train not arriving before 2030. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw called that timeline unacceptable.

The government has now decided to manufacture all 238 rakes simultaneously across three of its own production units, the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala and the Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli.

Under this revised approach, the first AC local should be ready next year, with the entire fleet completed by 2030. Each rake will have 12 coaches, bringing the total to 2,856 coaches across the fleet.

The project, sanctioned under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, carries an estimated cost of Rs 19,293 crore.

Beyond just adding more AC coaches, the new trains will also come with automatic door-closing systems, aimed at making journeys safer for commuters.

This isn’t a standalone move. It’s part of a much larger Rs 22,000 crore push to expand capacity across Mumbai’s suburban network.

That includes building new rail corridors, extending platforms to handle 15-coach trains, and reworking railway yards, all of which are expected to be completed in phases between 2027 and 2030.

MRVC Chairman Vilas Wadekar said the goal is to time the arrival of new trains with this infrastructure work, so commuters start seeing the benefits sooner rather than later.

Less crowding, more comfort, and safer travel are what officials are hoping this combined effort will deliver over the next few years.

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