19.5-Km-Long Mumbai Monorail Is Now Active: Skywalks, Footbridges, Subways To Connect To Suburban Rail Network
After languishing due to several procedural delays for eight long years, Mumbaikars can now travel in the much-awaited monorail phase-2 (Jacob Circle–Wadala) from today onwards.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (4 March) flagged off the 11.28-km second phase of the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail network.
With the phase-2 now operational, commuters in Mumbai can use the entire monorail service comprising of 19.5 kilometres (Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur) from 6am till 10pm.
The monorail services will ply at a frequency of 22 minutes each and the ticket fare will be between Rs 10 to Rs 40.
The construction of Mumbai monorail project began in 2008. The project was executed by Scomi Engineering, a Malaysian company in partnership with Indian infrastructure behemoth Larsen & Toubro. The Phase 1 of the project - 8.26 km, 19-minute route from Wadala to Chembur took close to six years as it was hit by multiple delays and cost escalations. It was finally thrown open in 2014.
Speaking at the event, Fadnavis said the country's first ever monorail had faced many hurdles and delays in the past, but was now finally seeing the light of day.
"The first 8 km route which got commissioned in 2014 was used as a mere joyride because there was no last-mile connectivity. But now, with the commissioning of the second phase, it will no longer remain a joyride but passengers can now use it for a hassle-free commute," he said.
The CM said the monorail's annual ridership will now exponentially increase from the current 4.5 lakh to 30 lakh.
"In the process of urbanisation, the most important element that needs to be addressed is mobility. It is necessary to develop an efficient and sustainable public transport system. In Mumbai, we have a strong suburban railway system, and with projects like monorail and metro network, we will be able to develop sustainable mobility," he said.
The CM further said there was a need to integrate transport systems including railways, monorail, metro, BEST and the proposed waterways.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is now planning to link 10 monorail stations with skywalks, footbridges (FOBs) and subways so it can be easily accessible to the existing suburban railway stations and upcoming metro corridors.
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, also present at the inauguration event, said that Indian Railways is ready to collaborate with the MMRDA to make monorail successful.
According to the MMRDA’s station interchange plan, the Jacob Circle (Sant Ghadge Maharaj) station will be connected to Mahalaxmi Railway Station (Western Suburbs) and Metro Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) Mahalaxmi Station. Lower Parel, Mint Colony, Dadar East, Wadala bridge and Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) monorail stations will be connected with the existing Lower Parel, Curry Road, Dadar, Wadala and GTB Railway Stations.
Furthermore, the Wadala Depot, Bhakti Park, VNP Marg Junction and Chembur monorail stations will be connected with Anik Bus Depot, Metro Line 4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavli), Metro Line 2B (DN Nagar-Mandale) and Chembur Railway Station. As per MMRDA, on the 19.5-km long monorail track, four air conditioned coaches will be running. The train will have a carrying capacity of 568 passengers at a time. It will take 44 minutes to travel on the entire stretch.
(With PTI Inputs)