In a first of its kind initiative to promote electric mobility, the Central Railway has partnered with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR ) and has launched e-autos at Thane station. Women drivers have been appointed to run these e-autos. In a statement to the media, Central Railway’s chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said that the set-up is well organised with sufficient security and support protocols in place.
To achieve a sustainable model for last mile connectivity from the railway stations, the Central Railway plans to launch 30 E-autos, out of which 15 are already operational. In addition to this they have also introduced a battery replacement service and have tied up with UNEP and Tata Power to provide charging points at various stations.
The electric autos and the charging centre have a dedicated parking bay adjoining platform no. 1 at Thane at the base of the bridge that ferries public transport buses in the east. Sutar added that the first one at Mumbai CSMT inspired this idea and that later the Central Railway took it to other railway stations including Dadar, Parel, Byculla and Thane. “For the second phase, tenders have been floated for stations including Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Bhandup, Panvel and Kalyan. Areas at the entry-exit points of railway stations with parking facilities have been earmarked for the charging stations as per availability.”
According to reports, the plan is to run the E-autos from morning 6am till midnight and there are plans in place to increase the fleet of E-autos to 70.
Cover Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Mumbai Live