New monorail trains soon, faster commutes ahead

Mumbai's monorail will add two new trains, increasing the fleet to seven, improving capacity and reducing wait times to 15 minutes.

MUMBAI: Two new monorail trains, parked in the Wadala depot for the last six to eight months, will be pressed into service, taking the number of operational trains to seven.

Mumbai, India. July 07, 2025: New colored Monorail racks have arrived at the Wadala Monorail Depot. The Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL) plans to introduce additional monorail services to help manage the heavy rush. Mumbai, India. July 07, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

For the last four months, only five of eight trains have been operational on the 20-km monorail route from Chembur to Wadala and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk. The remaining three were pulled out of service, to be tested with equipment, devices and software to match a set of seven new trains parked in the Wadala depot. The two new rakes that will be added to the operational five are a part of this set.

The new trains have been supplied by Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives. Another rake is expected in November. These trains are advanced versions vis-à-vis the current fleet, which is more than a decade old.

Sources in the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL), a subsidiary of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), said the two new additions would be retrofitted, a process whereby they will be downgraded to sync with the monorail’s ten-year-old signalling and engineering systems.

Sources said adding two rakes would augment the carrying capacity on the entire corridor, reduce headway and improve services. It could also make the service quicker. “By adding trains, the need to control overcrowding inside Monorail will be eliminated. The gap between two services can be brought down to 15 minutes, from the present 20 minutes. Currently, due to untoward incidents, this goes up to 25 minutes, leading to a build-up of passengers inside trains and on the platforms,” said another official.

As for long-term plans, MMMOCL will add ten new rakes, of which seven have arrived. According to current plans, 142 services are scheduled each weekday, with each train running 350km daily, between 5.48 am and 11 pm. However, these targets are not always met thanks to inadequate rolling stock and frequent breakdowns.

Meanwhile, after the August 19 incident, where a monorail train got stuck with more than 580 passengers inside, MMMOCL issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed at every station on the monorail corridor. One of these points includes regulating passenger load.

This has led to delays in the past week, when attempts to get excess passengers to deboard have caused the trains to halt at monorail stations for 10-15 minutes each time.

“Despite repeated appeals, commuters do not cooperate and this causes delays. Still, we have decided to get commuters to alight before we resume the trip, delays notwithstanding. If the doors close despite crowding, the train will proceed with caution,” said an official.

The Mumbai Monorail has been designed to carry 562 passengers in each four-car train, vis-à-vis 600 each in the new rakes. Daily footfalls are 16,000-18,000, with stations such as Lower Parel, Chembur, Wadala, Mysore Colony being the most popular.

The authorities claim footfalls are increasing and they are working on introducing WhatsApp ticketing similar to the system on the metro rail lines. They also plan to appoint a single private operator through a five-year contract to oversee the monorail’s operations and maintenance at a cost of ₹300 crore.