Three weeks after fire, Mumbai monorail still shut; services to resume in another 10 days

MMRDA officials said they have to implement recommendations made by the probe committee to ensure passenger safety

Three weeks after a fire gutted two coaches of a monorail train in the city, train services have not yet restarted. Senior officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) said services will resume only after another 10 days.

Two rakes of a monorail train caught fire on November 9.

After the fire on November 9, the planning authority put in place an independent committee to look into the incident. The panel submitted an interim report to the MMRDA last week, but the final report was submitted only on Tuesday.

On Saturday, HT had reported that the panel declared the monorail unsafe in case of fires as its elevated passageway had inadequate options for rescue operations.

An MMRDA official, on condition of anonymity, said: “We have to go through the report and implement its recommendations to ensure the safety of passengers.”

Already a loss-making project, the monorail has been losing further revenue earned from tickets as operations have been shut since November 9.