Mumbai Metro to start ops from Monday; Monorail on Sunday

While the Maharashtra government has allowed Metro rail operations in the state from Thursday in a graded manner, the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), which runs

While the Maharashtra government has allowed Metro rail operations in the state from Thursday in a graded manner, the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), which runs the Metro between Ghatkopar and Versova, said it will begin operations from 8.30am on Monday. The Mumbai monorail services will start from Sunday, in a graded manner, officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) confirmed.

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In a statement released on Wednesday evening, MMOPL said, “Mumbai Metro is thankful to the Government of Maharashtra for allowing Metro operations. We have already initiated safety inspections and trial runs and are set to restart passenger operations from Monday, 19th October 2020, 8:30am.”

Alternate seats in both Metro and monorail that have to be left unoccupied will be marked so as to maintain social distancing. Thermal scanners and sanitisers will also be placed at the entry to the stations. An official from MMRDA said, “We are working on the schedules, but we will start operations on the entire route from Sunday.”

Mumbai Monorail tweeted on Wednesday: “No Mask No Travel policy by Monorail. Passengers will be permitted to travel only while wearing proper masks...Passengers are requested to co-operate with the Monorail staff by maintaining social distancing and following necessary safety instructions.“

The services on Mumbai Metro and monorail have been shut since March when the nationwide lockdown was imposed owing to the pandemic.

While Delhi Metro resumed services in September, the Maharashtra government was still sceptical about opening up services in the state.

Sources from MMOPL had said the Reliance-infra led consortium was facing losses to the tune of ₹80 lakh to a crore a day owing to the complete shutdown.

Metro-1 has done away with the plastic token system that can be used multiple times. Instead, commuters will be encouraged to use the mobile application to book tickets. The Mumbai monorail will be providing paper tickets to commuters and do away with its plastic token.