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In what is being described as a first for Mumbai’s suburban railway network—and a pioneering experiment on Indian Railways—a non-AC local train equipped with an automatic door-closure system has been manufactured and is currently on its way to Mumbai.

First-of-its-kind rake for Mumbai suburban network

The 12-car rake, numbered 268201–268212, is the first non-AC train of its kind to be introduced on the network. Designed with automatic sliding doors, the train aims to enhance commuter safety on Mumbai’s crowded suburban routes.

Manufactured in Chennai, en route to Mumbai

According to available details, the newly built train has rolled out from the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur, Chennai. It is currently being transported to Mumbai via Renigunta as an “empty EMU special.”

The Central Railway will officially receive the rake at Wadi station in the Solapur division before moving it to Kurla carshed for further processes and eventual deployment.

Push for safer suburban travel

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced in September 2025 that Mumbai’s suburban network would gradually transition to closed-door trains to improve passenger safety.

“From the safety purpose of commuters in Mumbai, it is very important that any local trains that operate in Mumbai need to have their doors closed. It has now been decided that all the trains henceforth manufactured for Mumbai will be that of closed doors. We have done three experiments in this context. The first is retrofit doors on all existing local trains, the second one is all the non-AC trains that are being manufactured will be with close-doors and naturally the AC trains that will be manufactured will come with close doors. It has been in principle decided to have close doors on all local trains AC or non-AC,” Union Railway Minister Ashiwini Vashnaw said.