Product Code Database
The MMRDA Mumbai Monorail is a monorail line in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, built as part of a major expansion of public transport in the city. The project is operated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The monorail runs from Chembur, in the city's eastern suburbs to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk at Mahalaxmi in South Mumbai, effectively connecting the city's Harbour Line, Central Line and Western Line.
The monorail, as its name suggests, runs on a narrow single track. A lightweight structure allows the trains to navigate sharp turns in congested urban areas. Monorail: Mumbai's new travel option. Traffic Infra Tech Magazine. 10 September 2010. The Mumbai Monorail is the first in India since the Kundala Valley Railways and the Patiala State Monorail Trainways were closed in the 1920s.
The system began commercial operation in 2014, but has achieved only 10% of the estimated ridership. Over budget, with an "unnecessary" route poorly connected to other modes of transport and suffering from poor maintenance, the system has widely been described as a "failure". As of 2025, it remains the only operating monorail in India.
/ref>
On 11 November 2008, Larsen and Toubro partnered with the Malaysian company Scomi, and the joint venture (JV) company was awarded a contract by the MMRDA to build, operate, and maintain the project of around eight monorail routes in Mumbai by the year 2029. The construction of the first monorail line in Mumbai mostly began from 2014, which would connect Jacob Circle, Wadala and Mahul via Chembur, providing a feeder service to the existing Mumbai Suburban Railway. However, nothing concrete came out of the notification for many years.
In mid-2018, a dispute arose between the MMRDA and the Malaysian company LTSE, with both parties attempting to end the contract with each other. LTSE, which was reportedly defaulting on the contract on multiple counts, wrote to the MMRDA stating that its responsibilities were over, while the MMRDA was trying to end the contract with the Malaysian operator. 175 Mumbai Monorail Staffers Sent on Unpaid Leave . Ateek Shaikh. dnaindia.com. 16 June 2018.
The contract with LTSE was finally ended in December 2018. MMRDA terminates monorail contract with L&T-Scomi JV . Indian Express. 15 December 2018. The MMRDA has now taken over the operations of the monorail and, according to the MMRDA, the bus service operating in the city plied crowded and narrow areas at very slow speeds, thus offering no benefits to the commuters and adding to the traffic congestion. The MMRDA stated that the monorail would connect many parts of the city which were not connected by the suburban rail system or the proposed metro rail system. The agency also stated that the monorail would be an efficient feeder transit to the metro and suburban rail systems offering efficient, safe, air-conditioned, comfortable, and affordable public transport to commuters.
The cost of the monorail service was estimated in 2010 to be 2.0 billion (roughly per km). Approximately of line is planned to be built in phases between 2011 and 2031. The monorail service along with the metro lines, have been reported to have incurred losses.
A 108-meter test run was successfully conducted on 26 January 2010. A one-kilometer test run from Wadala to the Bhakti Park monorail station was undertaken on 18 February 2012. The first test run of the entire route was conducted by the MMRDA in November 2012.
In late December 2013, the MMRDA announced that it had submitted an application to Safety Certification Authority (Engineer) for the Chembur-Wadala stretch. The Safety Certification Authority goes through the documents, and physically inspects the corridor, and commercial operations can commence only after receiving its approval. The electrical systems were certified by the Electrical Inspector General. The contractor, the consortium of L&T and Scomi Engineering, had safety checks performed by an independent inspector. Official safety checks were performed by SMRT Corp of Singapore and R.C. Garg, retired Commissioner of Railway Safety. The final safety certificate was issued on 20 January. The safety certificate was then forwarded to the State Government, which issued a notification for commissioning the system. The notification contains norms for operation and maintenance of the system, which requires approval from the Chief Minister.
In the first week of operations (2–8 February 2014), the monorail transported 1,36,865 passengers in about 512 trips, earning a total revenue of 1,424,810. A total of 132,523 tokens and 1409 smart cards were also sold during the first week. According to the MMRDA, between 2 February and 1 March, a total of 458,871 commuters used the monorail, generating a total revenue 4,466,522. The monorail was closed for the first time on 17 March 2014 due to Holi.
Years of delays later, Phase 2 was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on 3 March 2019.
| 7 |
| 10 |
| Chembur | चेंबूर | Chembur (Under construction) | |
| VNP and RC Marg Junction | व्हीएनपी आणि आरसी मार्ग जंक्शन | 2 February 2014 | None |
| Fertiliser Township | फर्टीलाइझर टाउनशिप | 2 February 2014 | None |
| Bharat Petroleum | भारत पेट्रोलियम | 2 February 2014 | None |
| Mysore Colony | मैसूर कॉलनी | 2 February 2014 | None |
| Bhakti Park | भक्ती पार्क | 2 February 2014 | (Under construction) |
| Wadala Depot | वडाळा डेपो | None | |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar | गुरू तेग बहादुर नगर | 3 March 2019 | Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar |
| Antop Hill | अँटॉप हिल | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Acharya Atre Nagar | आचार्य अत्रे नगर | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Wadala Bridge | वडाळा ब्रिज | 3 March 2019 | Wadala Road |
| Dadar (East) | दादर (पूर्व) | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Naigaon | नायगाव | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Ambedkar Nagar | आंबेडकर नगर | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Mint Colony | मिंट कॉलनी | 3 March 2019 | None |
| Lower Parel | लोअर परळ | 3 March 2019 | Lower Parel |
| Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk | संत गाडगे महाराज चौक | 3 March 2019 |
In 2009, the MMRDA proposed the construction of an additional line on the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan route. The route was proposed to have a station at every kilometer, cost and be implemented on public-private partnership basis. It was further proposed to extend the corridor from Kalyan to Badlapur in the next phase. This project was shelved by the MMRDA in February 2014. The proposed corridor would have been 23.75 km long, and cost approximately 3,169 crore.
Further development of the monorail system is on hold, and questions have been raised as to whether the proposed monorail corridors will have sufficient capacity to meet Mumbai's requirements. The monorail may not be further extended by the MMRDA, as it may prove inadequate for Mumbai's population density. Foreign consultants have suggested a Metro or Light rail system over a monorail for many Indian cities, e.g. Bangalore.
Each monorail train consists of four coaches with a combined passenger capacity of 568. The low number of seats was to ensure that the flow of people in and out of the coach was not hampered. Some sections of seats are reserved for pregnant women, the elderly and the differently-abled. Handrails and handgrips are installed in coaches, within easy reach of all standing passengers. A 4-coach monorail train has a total length of 44.8 metres, and each coach weighs 15 tonnes. All coaches are air-conditioned. There are two CCTV cameras installed in each coach.
In March 2023, after an uptick in ridership, the MMRDA ordered 10 new trains for the route. Mumbai's monorail sees uptick in ridership but commuters still prefer taking metro, here's why. Financial Express. 28 March 2023.
As part of the Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS), the MMRDA announced in April 2017 that it would move all bus and taxi stands to a distance of about 40–50 metres away from the monorail stations. The MMRDA believes that the current location of the stand just next the stations results in traffic congestion and restricts movement of pedestrians.
Train operators will be given breath analyser tests when they report for duty. Violations will be met with disciplinary action, fines, and possible civil charges.
Monorail services initially operated only between 7am and 3pm, running 64 services per day. The MMRDA had stated that operating hours would be extended after authorities increased operations and maintenance staff, as well as studied the passenger traffic. MMRDA commissioner U.P.S. Madan announced on 3 March 2014 that monorail services would operate from 7am to 7pm before the end of that month. This was later postponed to mid-April, but plans were modified to operate the monorail in a 14-hour shift from 6am to 8pm. The MMRDA doubled its staff strength in order to operate the additional services. The monorail began operating from 6am to 8pm, starting 15 April 2014, bringing the total number of services operating per day to 112. Operating hours were further extended to 10pm starting 15 August 2014, increasing the number of daily services to 131.
Over the next two weeks, 76,590 and 41,405 passengers respectively traveled on the line. The average daily ridership dropped from 20,000 during the first few weeks to 15,000 by March 2014. In the last full week of 8-hour operations (from 6 to 12 April), 65,760 commuters used the monorail. Services began operating for 14-hours daily, beginning 15 April 2014, carrying 15,016 commuters for revenue of 1.32 lakh. By the last week of January 2015, the monorail had ferried nearly 51 lakh passengers since it began operations.
Consumption of food and chewing tobacco in the premises above the concourse is prohibited.
According to a passenger survey by the MMRDA, 73% of the monorail commuters are regular users, commuting to their workplace or educational institute. Seventy percent of commuters reached stations on foot. Commuters in the age group of 16–22 years made up 33% of the ridership, and those in the age groups of 23–30 years and 31–58 years made up 29% each.
|
|
