Monorail to resume on September 1

Mumbai: Almost a year after the monorail services were shut, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided to resume services on September 1. However, only Phase 1, i.e. Chembur to Wadala, will be operational while Phase 2 will start by 2019, officials confirmed. The services were shut after a massive fire gutted two coaches of Monorail at Bhakti Park station in November 2017.

“We have decided to start monorail Phase 1 by September 1 and the fares will remain unchanged,” said Dil-eep Kawathkar, joint projects director (MMRDA). He further added, “The entire corridor will be operational by February 1, 2019.” Earlier in June, the state’s UDD department gave the proposal for monorail back, the department had cited that few safety aspects were still lacking in the proposal. “The safety measures have been taken care off and will be in place during the operations,” added Mr Kawathkar.

Although the Phase 2 (Wadala to Jacob Circle) got clearance from the Commi-ssioner of Railway Safety (CRS) in the month of April, the authorities are not keen to start both the corridors together be-cause of deficiency of enough rakes.

The MMRDA is yet to appoint a new operator to run the corridor.