Whats the history of EMU services on IR?
Bombay area EMUs date back to the 1920’s. In 1925, EMUs from Cammell-Laird and Uerdingenwagonfabrik (Germany) were used on the line from Victoria Terminus to Kurla (what would become the core of the CR suburban service). In 1928 EMU rakes from Cammell-Laird / BTH were used on what is now WR. These were in use until 1974. The BTH rakes were even wider than the current 12′ wide EMUs. A few Hitachi and Nippon SSK EMUs were used by what is now CR (some were acquired in 1925). These early EMUs were all vacuum-braked. (CR’s EMU’s had very weak horns operated by the vacuum of the brake system; WR had louder horns run by the air pressure of the pantograph reservoir.) Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. supplied 24 trailer cars for WR, and 32 for CR in the early 1950s. These were air-braked. In December 1947, CR ordered 56 (?) EMUs from Metroplitan Cammell, and others from Hitachi, Breda, etc. WR acquired 12 EMUs from Metropolitan Cammell. These coaches were in use until the early 1980s.
