Binoo Nair/Mumbai Mirror
WR has announced a Rs 2.71 cr tender for American standard ventilation system in existing trains
Mumbai, Aug 10: In a show of ‘customer care’, Western Railway (WR) is planning to spend big money to allow its commuters to breathe easy. Taking a cue from Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) which has accepted American standards of air freshness inside the new local trains, WR is planning a similar exercise for the 105 Alternate Current coaches currently on its fleet.
MRVC has fitted powerful air-blowers (see arrow) in Mumbai’s new trains which will pump in fresh air inside the packed coaches
On Thursday, WR announced a Rs 2.71-crore tender inviting companies to build better ventilation systems that will increase the amount of fresh air inside coaches. “We will be installing the systems in the AC/DC coaches since the older ones do not have adequate power to sustain new systems. Once installed, commuters will find a lot more fresh air circulating inside,” V K Aggarwal, chief workshop manager of the Mahalaxmi workshop under whose sign the tenders have been invited, explained.
MRVC has fitted powerful air-blowers into the city’s new trains that will pump in 14,535 cubic metres of fresh air per hour inside each coach to maintain stringent American standards of air quality.
According to the globally accepted American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards for trains, the level of carbon dioxide should be less than 700 parts per million (ppm) above the CO2 level outside. In the current circumstances, CO2 level inside is nearly 2,400 ppm above that outside. That’s because unlike the world standard of six people per square metre inside trains, the CST-Karjat or Churchgate-Virar local has 16 people crammed in every square metre. So, about 5,000 people travel in trains meant for 1,800, and since people block passage of air through doors and windows too, there is almost zero circulation of air.
For years the railways had put the CO2 limit to 3,000 ppm, citing the strength of the crowd and humidity.