Mumbai monorail turns the corner

The monorail was envisaged as a lightweight transport system. Planners believed that its manoeuvrability and nimbleness to navigate tight turns and narrow corridors would make it ideal for urban congested corridors of Mumbai.

The plan to construct a monorail line across the city was first mooted in 2005 with the appointment of a committee of bureaucrats and experts to identify routes.

Planners believed that
its manoeuvrability and nimbleness to navigate tight turns and narrow corridors would make it ideal for urban congested corridors of Mumbai.
Ganesh Shirsekar

The idea was to create an alternative transport system which would weave through some of the most dense and congested parts of Mumbai leading to the construction of the

19-km-long monorail that runs from Chembur-Wadala to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in Mumbai Central.

While the first phase of the monorail commenced in 2014, the transportation service received a severe setback with the downturn in the economic fortunes of the Malaysian-based Scomi group, which constructed the monorail. A global downturn in the company’s fortunes coupled with its conflict with the MMRDA on financial matters, including cost escalations, saw a severe deterioration in monorail services which were frequently disrupted due to power outages and technical glitches.

In November 2017, two coaches of the monorail were completely gutted and the service remained shut for a period of 10 months. Services subsequently resumed in September 2018. However, by that time commuters seemed to have lost patience for the service with many complaining that they usually had to wait for over 30 to 40 minutes for the next monorail service to arrive.

The decision by the MMRDA to take over day-to-day operations, however, led to an improvement in service. Starting 2019 when the MMRDA took over the monorail, the service was running with three operational rakes. The number of functional rakes now stands at six which are used for daily operations while two rakes are kept on standby. “Commuters want to have stable services. If trains are available at constant frequency any commuter can plan their travel and we are able to provide the services at a time gap of 18 minutes now, which was earlier running at a 30-minute time gap with no proper punctuality. However, now the case is different and therefore the ridership has improved,” an official involved in the running of the monorail said.

The issue of frequent breakdowns of the Malaysian-manufactured rakes has also been addressed with the MMRDA roping in local vendors for the supply of spare parts, which are also available at cheaper rates.

Currently, a total of 118 trips are operated on the monorail at a time gap of 18 minutes.

The way ahead

While the monorail ridership is increasing gradually, the MMRDA is betting big on the project and is planning to deploy an additional 10 rakes. It has given an order for 10 new rakes to an Indian company based in Hyderabad called Medha Servo Drives Ltd. The first prototype rake will be available between August and October this year.

Once the prototype rake is approved then after every three months three rakes will be delivered. In the next nine months from the arrival of the first prototype rake all 10 rakes will be with the authority.

The inclusion of the new rakes will improve the frequency from 18 minutes to five minutes and will nearly double the total number of services to 250 each day.

Multi-modal integration

The monorail authority has proposed foot over bridges (FOBs) connecting the upcoming nearby Metro and existing railway stations, which will increase the ridership of the monorail. At present the weekday ridership is 16,000 per day while on weekends the ridership is 10,000 daily. With a multi-modal integration plan the daily ridership will be over 1.5 lakh daily in the next three years, said the official. The authority has planned Metro line 4 (Wadala to Kasarvadavali) integration with the monorail station at Bhakti Park via an FOB which is around 215 metres long. Similarly, an FOB of 300 metres is planned at Jacob Circle monorail station to link with the upcoming Metro line 3 and the suburban railway station both commonly named as Mahalaxmi.

The monorail’s VN Purav station is in close proximity to the Metro Line 2B (DN Nagar to Mandale) V N Purav station. Also the monorail’s Wadala Bridge station is in close proximity to the existing Vadala Road Western Railway station.

What commuters say

The improvement in frequency is evident at most monorail stations with commuters stating that the services have improved significantly compared to the past. Commuters, however, complain that while frequency has improved monorail as a form of transportation service is not at par with the Metro, which is far more comfortable and efficient.

“Although the frequency is good now the trains which operate make noise and have vibrations throughout the journey. This scares me a lot. Many times, I feel that the monorail will fall down. I don’t think pregnant women can travel in the monorail. The fares are cheap. I suggest they should increase the fare and get better rakes and use that money for the maintenance of rakes. I have travelled in countries like Thailand. Our monorail cannot be compared with other countries’ monorails,” Trupti Shah, travelling in the monorail from Chembur to Dadar East, said. Mukesh Pandeshwar (54), who stays close to Mahalaxmi and regularly travels for work to Chembur on the monorail, said that it is a convenient mode of public transport for him apart from being cheaper. However, he too pointed out that the trains vibrate a lot and a loud noise is heard throughout the journey.

Another traveller Beena Srivastava, who stays in Antop Hill and travels to Chembur for work, said monorail ticketing should be made online. “One can buy tickets only at counters of the station. The services are good, however. Trips should be available at a time gap of five minutes each,” she said.