Senior seats in Mumbai locals to double as WR converts luggage coaches

In a move to enhance comfort for elderly commuters, Western Railway will convert one of the two luggage compartments in each local train into a dedicated senior citizens’ coach. The move will double the reserved seating for seniors from 14 to 28 seats per train. This initiative follows a Bombay High Court directive issued last year in response to a PIL that highlighted the daily travel challenges faced by nearly 50,000 elderly passengers.

The seventh coach from the Churchgate end in each of WR’s 110 non-AC trains will be modified to include 14 seats exclusively for senior citizens. The conversion, estimated to cost ₹5.4 crore, will be executed in phases over the next year at the Mumbai Central and Virar car sheds.

While some concern was raised over reduced space for luggage, officials noted a significant decline in parcel commuters, especially Mumbai’s iconic dabbawalas, whose numbers have dropped from 5,000 to 2,000 since the pandemic. Subhash Talekar, president of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association, has requested time-specific access to the modified coaches.

Currently, luggage compartments take up 6% of a train’s space but serve just 0.32% of passengers. In contrast, general compartments, which occupy 71% of the space, cater to 90% of commuters. The shift, officials say, is a practical reallocation of space to better serve Mumbai’s high-volume local network.