1st day, 1st (flop) show: Glitch on Monorail leaves scores stranded

Floral strings from Sunday’s inauguration get entangled in wires

A day after it was inaugurated with much fanfare, a glitch brought a Monorail rake to a halt at Wadala depot, leaving passengers stranded for an hour, till a train was pressed into service to take them to Chembur.

The Monorail was stalled at Wadala due to a cable which got entangled.(HT Photo)

Till 10.15pm, 27,619 commuters took the Monorail on Day 1 of its services, attracting a revenue of ₹5,19,936.

The train left the Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk station and reached Wadala depot at 12.25pm, where it stopped after some wires got entangled at the guideway. According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), floral strings used for the inaugural function a day earlier got entangled at the guideway creating a hurdle. The same rake was used for the inaugural run on the Wadala-Jacob Circle route inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday.

Passengers at the station, many of whom had come for a joyride as it was a public holiday, were frustrated with the delay, leading to a squabble with the staff present on site.

Sudhakar Mishra, a resident of Wadala who works at MTNL’s Chembur office, said, “I would have probably reached office if I had gone walking by now. I have waited 30 minutes for the train and this technical snag has delayed it further.”

A resident of Sion, Rahul Jain, had got his young daughter for a joyride, “Now my holiday is spoilt. I don’t think any service can match up to the suburban railway.”

Dilip Kawathkar, joint projects director, said, “It was a minor issue that was resolved soon. We have kept a check on all safety parameters.”

While many commuters HT spoke to had come for a joyride, others were exploring if they could take the Monorail to

work. Shalini M, a Wadala resident who works at Lower Parel, said, “I was waiting for the services to start soon, but if we have to wait for 20 minutes for a train, it is better to travel by car.”

Jayshree Mali, 29, from Chembur, said she hopes the Monorail runs smoothly as she has been spending ₹5,000 a month on car-pool services to reach her office at Mahalaxmi. “The frequency is an issue. I hope it works for me,” she said.

Rajendra Dhuriye got five children from his family to take the Monorail, so did Sunil Matke, who brought his four-year-old daughter so she could wave out to her mother from the train.

Shashank Talewar, a resident of Pratiksha Nagar, got his six-year-old daughter who insisted on travelling by the Monorail.