Mumbai adds 15-car trains
Western Railway began running 15-car local trains on March 19 to ease peak overcrowding—an operational fix that increases capacity without major infrastructure rebuilds. It’s a practical case study for agencies wanting rapid capacity gains through train reconfiguration. (freepressjournal.in)
Sixteen existing 12‑car suburban services were augmented to 15‑car formations, taking the count of 15‑car services on Western Railway from 211 to 227. ( ) Eight of the augmented rakes are scheduled on the Virar–Churchgate corridor during peak periods — four services morning Churchgate→Virar and four evening Virar→Churchgate — while the remaining eight run on Churchgate–Virar, Dadar–Borivali and Nalasopara–Churchgate routings. ( ) The 15‑coach non‑AC rake in this rollout was factory‑built by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), which rolled out its first 15‑car EMU on Feb 18, 2026 and projects per‑rake capacity at roughly 7,555 passengers; ICF has plans to supply a further dozen 15‑car rakes. (indianexpress.com) Western Railway noted the newly delivered rakes were stationed at the Virar car shed for testing prior to revenue service, and parallel platform‑lengthening works are active at Vile Parle, Santacruz, Khar Road and Bandra to accommodate longer formations. ( ) Western Railway stated the augmentation raised 15‑coach services to 227 while keeping the total number of suburban services on the network unchanged at 1,414. ( )
