Central Railway has phased out the retrofitted DC-AC rakes that had been introduced nine years ago on the suburban line as the corridor had both 1500 V DC current as well as 25 KV alternating current.
“The DC-AC rakes were phased out in December 2019,” confirmed Shivaji Sutar, CR chief PRO. “These had been introduced in 2011 as an indigenous technology so that the rakes could run both on DC and AC power, as the conversion work was undertaken in phases.” CR had 25 such retrofitted rakes.
The conversion began on February 19, 2008, in the Kasara-Igatpuri section and was completed on the main line up to CSMT on June 8, 2015. The Harbour line was charged with AC power in April 2016. The retrofitted rakes had poor ventilation, lighting and shabby interior panels made of iron compared to Siemens and Bombardier rakes which are made of stainless steel material and have better ventilation and lighting.