Western Railway’s newest ‘Uttam rake’ trial run today, women to get first ride

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Western Railway’s (WR) newest, state-of-the-art Uttam rake will set for a trial run on the evening of November 5. To mark the 69th foundation day, WR has decided to upgrade the local train rakes that run on the Western Line of the Mumbai local network.

This will be the first non-air-conditioned local train to have CCTVs installed in all the coaches. The first Uttam Rake will be the 6:13 pm Ladies Special that departs from Churchgate. It will halt at Virar at 7:57 pm.

Mumbai’s newest train runs today: Western Railway set to trial Uttam rake with CCTVs, better seats & interiors and red emergency buttons. @drmbct@RailMinIndia @PiyushGoyalOffc #WRFoundationDay https://t.co/x7pcvEH2sf

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— Western Railway (@WesternRly) November 5, 2019

Speaking to the media, Ravinder Bhakar, the chief public relations officer of WR, said: “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.”

Notably, this special new rake will have grab handles and seats with brown cushions and higher backrests in the first-class compartments. That apart, the new partition installed at the doors are made of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) instead of steel while the new luggage racks are wider to accommodate more bags.

Interestingly, these new rakes will not have an emergency chain, which will be replaced by push buttons that will serve the same purpose. Moreover, to cut down on power expended, energy-saving fans and LED lights have been installed in this rake.

The ceilings of the Uttam Rakes are made of corrugated FRP, and the ventilation duct are made of wood-finish FRP. The rakes will be adorned with posters of iconic locations in Mumbai along with the pictures of the different kinds of Western Railway rakes.

These rakes were made at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. So far, the country only has two of them. While one will run in Mumbai, the other has been handed over to the South Central Railway.