1 year on, Monorail ride remains far from smooth: Commuters

A year after the Mumbai Monorail was inaugurated, commuters remain unhappy with the services provided. On Tuesday, HT took a ride from Chembur to Wadala depot and

A year after the Mumbai Monorail was inaugurated, commuters remain unhappy with the services provided. On Tuesday, HT took a ride from Chembur to Wadala depot and visited some of the stations on the route.

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While most of the stations had a deserted look, the few commuters spotted travelling via the Monorail expressed a need for drastic improvement in services.

Sumeet Jadhav, a resident of Chembur who works in Saat Rasta, said that even though the route is perfect for him, he cannot afford to wait 20-40 minutes for the train in the morning. “I take my bike most days as waiting for 40 minutes is out of the question. Only on some days can I take the monorail,” he said.

On March 3, 2019, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had inaugurated the services between Wadala and Jacob Circle. Prior to that, services between Chembur and Wadala had launched in 2014. The entire 19.5-km corridor runs between Chembur and Jacob Circle.

On Monday, HT had reported that in a year, only 38 lakh people travelled via the Monorail. The expected ridership was 30 lakh per month.

Mohini Tiwrekar, a resident of Vashi who uses the services frequently, said, “Since my office is in Parel, I use the services to travel for meetings. However, the stations are messy, there are no toilets, and the personnel are not very helpful.”

Another commuter, Shankar Dhanawat, pointed out that the ticket prices are higher when compared to buses. “Plus, the route is not favourable and the train frequency needs to be improved,” he said.

Ashish Chorbisa, a law student and resident of Chembur, said, “The project is a failure but now that the state has invested in such massive infrastructure, it must provide good services and the authorities must look at alternative revenues.”

On Monday, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials said that a global tender has been floated to procure 10 rakes to improve the frequency of services. “The pre-bid meeting for the tender is on March 5. The entire procurement process would take 18 months [for the first train]; to 24 months [for the last train],” an official said in a reply to queries.

Monorail as party venue not enough

A day after MMRDA said it would rent Monorail coaches for birthday parties and weddings, experts opined that the authority needs to take a hard look at the project.

“Using the monorail as a tourism and entertainment destination might help, but ultimately, MMRDA should take a hard look at what led to low ridership in the first place. This also throws up important questions for upcoming transit projects in the city,” said Amruta Ponkshe, a transport expert.

AV Shenoy, from the Mumbai Vikas Samiti, said, “Monorail was originally built at a cost of ₹2,400 crore. Can such a project sustain on joy rides? It has to be used fully for public transportation.”