Mumbai, Apr 16 (PTI) On the occasion of the 172nd anniversary of railways in India on Wednesday, the Central Railway (CR) introduced 14 new air-conditioned local train services on its main line in Mumbai, providing relief to commuters during summer.

Seven of the14 new AC services were operated till afternoon and the remaining services will be operated later in the day, said Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of the CR.

The new services replaced existing non-AC services. With this, the number of AC services on the CR’s main line rose to 80 from 66.

The replacement of ordinary non-AC services by AC services, especially during peak morning and evening hours, had caused resentment among a section of commuters in the past as the fare of AC trains is much higher.

The new AC local services will be operated from Monday to Saturday.

Every day, the CR operates a total of 1,810 suburban services and ferries more than 35 lakh commuters on its Main, Harbour, Trans-Harbour and Belapur-Uran suburban lines.

The first passenger train in India ran on this day 172 years ago from Bori Bunder (present-day Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai) to Tannah (now Thane). PTI KK KRK