Over 100 pc occupancy in trains in Mumbai-Ahmedabad section:WR

The Western Railway (WR) has rubbished reports that 40% seats on all the trains in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section go vacant and claimed that the occupancy was over 100% in these trains.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also tweeted saying, "Contrary to media reports, Mumbai-Ahmedabad train section running at above 100% occupancy and will benefit immensely from Bullet train (sic)."

The WR, in a statement, said it would like to clarify that reports regarding 40% seats being vacant in the trains running or passing between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and that the WR had incurred losses of Rs 30 crore in the sector over the last three months were not factually correct, as in fact, there was over a 100% occupancy in the section.

Goyal also posted the WR statement on Twitter.

WR's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Ravinder Bhakar said, "Contrary to the reports, the Western Railway's total earnings during the said three months from this sector were Rs 233 crore."

Earlier, city-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Galgali had claimed to have found through a query that there was a difference of Rs 29 crore in the WR's actual earnings and earning potential, because the trains running in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section had 40% vacant seats.

The activist had claimed that the WR's Chief Commercial Manager, Manjeet Singh, provided him the information for the period between July 1 and September 30, 2017, giving details about 32 mail and express trains running or passing between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Bhakar said the reply to the RTI query was against a specific question regarding the number of passengers travelling from Mumbai Central to Ahmedabad and from Ahmedabad to Mumbai Central - only these two stations.

"It is pertinent to mention that despite the period from July to September, 2017 being a lean season, the occupancy was above 100% and the figure (of occupancy) for the period from October, 2016 to September, 2017 for 34 trains was 124.72%," the CPRO said.