Numbering Conventions

EMU rakes in Mumbai are made up of three to four 'units'. Each unit consist of three coaches – A, B and C as referred to by WR, or 72, 70 and 76 as in CR. However, CR, in its 3XX series AC/DC rakes, and the new MRVC rakes, uses the A-B-C system as in WR. The details of the A, B and C coaches are as follows:

• "A" coach: This coach is a normal trailor coach. Half of the coach is a first class section and the remaining half is second class.

• "B" coach: These are the motor coaches. The coaches have traction motors, pantographs and other equipment which helps in operating the various systems of the train. The entire B coach is general second class compartment.

• "C" coach: These are the coaches driving cabs/section reserved for handicapped. C coaches are present at both the ends of any train. These two coaches have the driving cabs. But, there are "C" coaches in the middle of the rake too. These coaches have a section for Handicapped persons instead of the driving cab. Previously, the handicapped section was no larger than the driving cab. But in the rakes manufactured in the last few years, the size of this section has increased. WR is also modifying their older coaches to increase the capacity of the handicapped section. The coaches have general second class compartment and luggage compartment.

One can tell the zone of the older rakes by just looking at the numbers. But this is not possible in the case of MRVC rakes. There is no clear distinction between the numbering series for the WR and CR rakes. There are two series, namely 107 and 207. Both are shared among WR and CR. The MRVC rake numbers are in the following format:

<series> <coach type> <serial number>

There are two possibilities in the first part. It can be either 107 or 207. The second part can either be A or B or C. The serial number gives us an idea of how many coaches of the same type and series were manufactured before that particular coach. Lets see a couple of examples to understand it better.

• 107 A 001: This means that the coach is the first coach of type "A" in the 107 series.

• 107 C 038: This means that the coach is the thirty-eighth coach of type "C" in the 107 series.

• 207 B 022: This means that the coach is the twenty-second coach of type "B" in the 207 series.

Although there are two different series, i.e. 107 and 207, there is no physical difference between the coaches of both the series, except the slight differences in the arrangement of First class coaches of WR and CR.

Renumbering: For the sake of convenience, WR and CR have re numbered all the coaches to remove redundant bits. They took first digit of series (1/2) followed by the actual number in the series, followed by coach type. So the above examples, after renumbering will look like this:

• 1001 A

• 1038 C

• 2022 B

In general any 12 coach rake of WR will be in the following order, ex-Churchgate:

C B A - C B A - C B A - A B C.

For CR rakes, the order is opposite, i.e

C B A - A B C - A B C - A B C.