India’s first monorail inaugurated in Mumbai

India’s first monorail service started in Mumbai. The monorail service that would link the city to major stations began its first phase of 8.93 km between Wadala and Chembur in the eastern fringes of the Commercial Capital.

• The first phase of the monorail covered seven stations:  Wadala depot, Mysore Colony, BhaktiPark, Bharat Petroleum, V.N. Purav Marg, Fertiliser Colony, and Chembur.
• Will be able to carry about 2,500 passengers (each car will accommodate 568 commuters). The fares will be between Rs. 5 and Rs. 11.
• Average speed: 65 km/hr; Maximum speed: 80 km/hr.
• Expected to reduce the travel time between Wadala and Chembur by almost half. It takes 40 minutes at present but the monorail will take only about 21 minutes.

Second phase – connecting Wadala with Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in South Mumbai will be completed by mid-2015.

• It will cover a distance of 11.2 km and include the following 11 stations: Chinchpokli, Chembur Naka, Wadala Bridge, Mint Colony, Acharya Atra Nagar, Antop Hill, Wadala, GTB Nagar, Fertilizer Company and Bharat Petroleum.
• Mumbai monorail will display three colours — pink, green and blue.
• The project executed by a consortium of engineering major Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Malaysian firm Scomi Engineering and owned and operated by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The overall monorail project covers a 19.17 km stretch in the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle corridor, which will be the second longest corridor with 17 stations. (The longest one is Japan’s Osaka Monorail).

What is Monorail?

A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles travelling on such a beam or track. The beam in a monorail system is narrower than the vehicle.

Note: After the launch of Mumbai monorail, India joined the elite group of countries viz. the U.S., Germany, China, Japan, Australia and Malaysia that run monorails.