Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: There are hopes for the revival of Mumbai monorail services as the first coach of the four-car mono train has arrived at Wadala depot. Ten four-car trains are expected to arrive with the MMRDA commissioning Medha SMH Rail for the new fleet.
Being a ‘Make in India’ initiative, Telangana-based Medha Servo Drives, along with Malaysia-based SMH Rail, had secured a Rs 700 crore contract for 40 cars, which will make ten four-car trains. The earlier Malaysian company Scomi which had manufactured the older monorail rakes for Mumbai is no longer servicing them.
The new monorail rakes are technologically better and will have improved riding quality, have metal body like Metro coaches and increased frequency. Once the trains undergo trials from the manufacturers, they will need to be cleared by the Commissioner of Railway Safety for final approval before putting into public use. Once inducted in service, the frequency of existing monorail service will come down from 20-25 minutes at present to five minutes.
In January 2024, the MMRDA had already merged the Monorail Project Implementation Unit with the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation to revive the financially struggling Mumbai monorail which has been incurring losses, estimated to be approximately Rs 529 crore in 2023-24.
Daily commuters have said that the problem with the monorail is its route, which has been selected between Chembur station and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Saat Rasta between Curry Road and Mahalaxmi station), where there are not too many commuters. Though services and reliability improve, there will be only a limited maximum number of commuters that will be able to use the service.
