Mumbai Monorail Conducts Test Runs on First Phase
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority aims to start commercial operations of the 19.54 km long Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail project by August, the state-run authority said Saturday.
The Mumbai Monorail, the first such project in India, is being implemented by MMRDA while a consortium of Larsen & Toubro and Malaysia’s infrastructure firm Scomi Engineering is executing it. The project is being constructed at a cost of around Rs 3,000 crores.
With this, the Mumbai Monorail is one step closer to its inauguration. After countless promises and delay, the first phase of from Wadala to Chembur is expected to be operational from late April this year. According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the delays in the project were caused due to faulty mapping of underground utilities.
The Mumbai Monorail will augment local railway services and is expected to offer faster connectivity and link up the existing Central, Western and Harbour lines. The project will connect Jacob’s Circle in town to suburban Chembur, a distance of over 20 kilometres.
India’s first monorail will be the second longest monorail system in the world after Osaka. The ultramodern sleek trains, which can run up to a maximum speed of 81 kilometre per hour, will be running at an average speed of 31 kilometre per hour. Each train will have four coaches that can carry over five hundred passengers. According to the MMRDA, provisions have been made so that women can travel comfortably.