Click to play videoMumbai: The images of the blasts on commuter trains in July last year cannot be easily erased and in the months that have followed, the healing and recovery have continued not just for the victims, but also for the coaches that bore the brunt of the blasts.
After spending the last few months in the Mahalaxmi workshop, five of the seven shattered coaches will be given a new lease of life. And in about six months, you could be travelling in one of them.
Two of coaches involved in the blasts had to be scrapped due to extensive damage. But the railways are determined to save the others.
"Two of them went past their life cycle so we didn't fix those. But we are trying to revive five of the coaches,” says Public Relations, Western Railway, Pranai Prabhakar.
So is getting the trains back a gesture of defiance to the city's enemies? The thought may be noble, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to the money. Repairs can be done at half the cost of a new coach, and with less red tape.
"It would cost us Rs 40 lakh for a new coach. We can fix these for half the cost,” says Prabhakar.
Engineers at the workshop say if experts judge the coaches safe and sound after the required tests and trials, these coaches can be back on track in six months.
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