Your ride to get smoother as Mumbai’s Monorail to get five rakes by early next year

Commuters have been complaining of a bumpy ride with some jerks on the Chembur – Wadala line

Commuters will be able to ride in swanky, comfortable coaches of Monorail as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will get five new rakes. Each rake will have four coaches.

The new rakes are expected to be delivered early next year after the phase-II of the corridor between Wadala and Jacob Circle is commissioned

Commuters have been complaining of a bumpy ride with some jerks on the Chembur – Wadala line.

The new rakes are expected to be delivered early next year after the phase-II of the corridor between Wadala and Jacob Circle is commissioned.

Passengers on the operational 8.9-km line have complained of an “uncomfortable ride” each time Monorail manoeuvres curves or halts at stations.

Monorail operator Scomi Engineering has submitted new rake designs that promises less jerks while travelling, an MMRDA official said.

Officials said that the complaints were forwarded to the operator so that changes could be incorporated before the rakes were delivered.

“We have received the new designs from Scomi. The new design is ergonomically (comfort level) better. It has better aesthetics inside (the coaches) and passengers can expect a comfortable ride,” said Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.

The new rakes will approximately cost Rs160 crore. Khandare added that the MMRDA’s technical team will evaluate the new designs and give a go ahead for manufacturing.

The MMRDA is operating the corridor with just four trains. The remaining six trains are under maintenance as tyres of most of them have to be replaced. A senior MMRDA official said that they had asked Scomi to replace the tyres. Apparently, each rake has 16 tyres and each tyre costs around Rs1 lakh. Tyres are needed to be replaced every six months.

“Existing rakes have to be repaired and ready for the Phase II of the corridor to operate well; otherwise they will run on compromised frequency,” said an official.

The Phase-II (10.6km) of Monorail between Wadala and Jacob Circle is likely to start by the end of the year.