Indian Suburban Railway Development Efforts

Work done by Indian Railways
Attempts were made from time to time to improve the suburban trains from time to time. Railways do all their modifications through the Railway workshops. The western railways have their workshops at Bombay Central and Mahalakshmi. The central railway has its workshops at Matunga, Kurla, Kalwa. The R&D units is at RDSO, Lucknow and the coach furnishing is done in the Railway Coach Factory at Kapurthala and Perumbur. All the changes are made in consultation with RDSO.

The changes of layout by Western railways.
Western railways have given a try to solve the problem of crowding by executing changes in the layout. This was done by removal of the third seat and achieving a two by two layout as shown.
These rakes are running on the tracks since to years. Long distance passengers are not happy since the seating capacity is reduced. Also there is no fixed schedule that these rakes will run on short distances only it often goes for a long run after a short run.

The change of layout done by Western railways, which is already under use.

Commuters have reacted as

Don’t convert all coaches of single rake in this way.
Restrict such locals for short distances
Make adjustable and folding seats

Western railway has also tried to improve the ventilation of the coaches by adding air inlets scoops on the side walls. These malfunction due to improper detailing causing the rain water to come in.RDSO has not given any comments on this proposal.

Other improvements were also carried by railways as listed

Replacement of ordinary lights by fluorescent lights giving better ambiance and lighting conditions.
Introduction of more twelve coach rakes
Ventilation improvements in consultation with Aerospace department, IIT Bombay.