Monorail set for comeback after 8-month shutdown, final safety trials this week

The Mumbai Monorail, shut for over eight months due to safety issues, is set to resume operations in June after final inspections and trial runs.

MUMBAI: After remaining shut for more than eight months following a series of technical glitches that repeatedly endangered commuters, the Mumbai Monorail is finally inching towards a comeback, with the last round of safety inspections and trial runs scheduled to begin this week.

Monorail during its test run in Mumbai (PTI)

Suspended since September 20, 2025, the city’s only monorail system, already struggling with mounting losses, power failures, derailments and chronic technical breakdowns, is now expected to resume operations sometime in June, officials said.

Sources within the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL), an arm of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), said the long-pending final safety trials will commence this week under the supervision of retired Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) P S Baghel.

25 may mono rail

“It is expected to last a few days. Trial runs will also be held to satisfy all the queries raised by retired CMRS P S Baghel,” a source told Hindustan Times. Officials said the inspection process and trials are likely to continue through the week, after which observations and conditional approvals are expected within days. “We are hoping to restart monorail services sometime in June,” an MMMOCL official said.

This is the first time a retired CMRS has been brought in for such an inspection of the monorail system. Baghel is expected to inspect the rolling stock, signalling and telecommunication systems, automatic fare collection gates, indicators, service scheduling and other operational aspects.

Under normal procedure, monorail systems do not undergo a second round of statutory safety inspections. MMMOCL, through MMRDA, had sought relaxation from the state government under the Indian Tramways Act, 1886, under which obtaining CMRS certification is not mandatory. However, after repeated technical failures raised serious concerns over passenger safety and the reliability of the system, authorities opted for an additional layer of safety scrutiny as a special measure.

Earlier this year, Hindustan Times had reported that MMMOCL gave Medha Servo Drives, manufacturer of 10 new monorail trains, a May 7 deadline to ready India’s only monorail system for recommissioning. Incidentally, Baghel had earlier inspected and certified the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s first metro corridor, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Blue Line, in 2014.

In another major development, Hyderabad-based Power Mech Projects earlier this month took over the operation and maintenance of the Mumbai Monorail. The company will be paid ₹296.4 crore over five years to operate and maintain the troubled system.

Before services were suspended, the monorail carried around 18,000 passengers daily, with ridership climbing to nearly 20,000 during the monsoon season. Some of the system’s worst breakdowns occurred during the 2025 monsoon, severely disrupting services.

Even after operations were halted, trouble continued to plague the network. On November 5, 2025, one of the newly delivered monorail trains manufactured by Medha Servo Drives derailed outside the Wadala Depot during a trial run, injuring three persons. Preliminary investigations pointed to a combination of human error and systemic failures.

Ever since its inauguration in February 2014, the Mumbai Monorail has been beset by recurring technical glitches and operational disruptions, often earning criticism for turning into an expensive white elephant rather than a reliable public transport system.