Mumbai Monorail’s re-opening pushed to May-end

Sources said that with some final set of preparations still pending, it will not be possible to re-open services between Jacob Circle and Chembur via Wadala on May 7

Mumbai: The wait for the resumption of Mumbai Monorail services will be longer as the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) will miss its May 7 deadline, as it has yet to start the second layer of safety inspection and certification. Sources within MMMOCL shared on Saturday that the transportation system should be ready by May-end.

Monorail-during-its-test-run-in-Mumbai-PTI-Photo

The sources said that with some final set of preparations still pending, it will not be possible to re-open services between Jacob Circle and Chembur via Wadala on May 7. “At least a few more weeks will be required,” they added. The Monorail, which was inaugurated in February 2014, was suspended on September 20, 2025, after glitches in the system raised questions about safety.

Earlier this year, the Hindustan Times reported that MMMOCL had set May 7 as the deadline for Medha Servo Drives, the manufacturer of 10 new trains, to ready the entire 19.54 km system for re-commissioning.

While Medha Servo Drives achieved its deliverables, MMMOCL handed over the system to another private company - Power Mech Projects - to train the captains, and operate and maintain the public transportation system.

The first of the two safety clearances from the independent safety assessor agency, Bureau Veritas India, was received on February 20. Since then, changes have been made to the Monorail rake’s tyres and its signalling system, making them more robust and advanced. The Monorail rake’s capacity has been tested beyond 100 tonnes, and provisions have been introduced to send indications to the operators in case of overloading.

The second round of inspection is pending. Retired Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (Western Circle) P S Baghel, who inspected and certified Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s first metro rail - Blue Line on the Versova-Ghatkopar route - in 2014, has been appointed for this task. Baghel will inspect and test the Monorail’s rolling stock as well as automatic fare collection gates, signalling and telecommunication systems, indicators, and scheduling of services.

Although a second safety inspection is not mandatory for the monorail, the additional check was included as a special measure after the spate of technical glitches raised questions about the mechanical systems.

For this, MMMOCL, through its parent body Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), sought relaxation from the state government from the Indian Tramways Act, 1886, which does not permit certification from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS).

Once the system is certified safe and the Monorail becomes operational, Hyderabad-based Power Mech Projects will charge ₹296.4 crore for a five-year term for operations and maintenance.

Prior to its suspension, up to 18,000 passengers rode the Monorail daily; ridership increased to around 20,000 daily during monsoon. It was during the 2025 monsoon that some of its worst breakdowns were witnessed. Even after the suspension of services, during a trial run on November 5, 2025, one of the newly arrived monorail trains derailed outside Wadala Depot, injuring three people. The preliminary cause was pinned to a combination of human error and systemic issues.

(with inputs from Shashank Rao)