City cheers as Monorail runs on Wadala stretch

Eleven months after the state government started the construction of the Monorail, residents in Mumbai on January 26 witnessed the first road run of an alternate transport medium on the city’s streets.

Eleven months after the state government started the construction of the Monorail, residents in Mumbai on January 26 witnessed the first road run of an alternate transport medium on the city’s streets.

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The trial run for the Monorail took place on a 108-metre stretch at Wadala, in the presence of Chief Minster Ashok Chavan and hundreds of spectators.

MMRDA officials were earlier keen to conduct a trial run on a 1-km stretch. However, the electrification required for the running of the coach was done only on the 108-metre stretch.

The Monorail will act as a surrogate to the already over-burdened suburban railway system.

“I am sure this test will instill a lot of confidence in Mumbaiites who are backing our infrastructure projects,” Chavan said.

The Monorail travelled up and down the 108-metre stretch and was driven by experts flown in from Malaysia by Scomi, which built the rakes of the Monorail.

The Rs 2,460-crore Monorail will run between Jacob Circle and Chembur and is expected to be functional by 2011.

A consortium of Larsen & Toubro with Scomi Engineering Bhd, Malaysia, is building the 19.54-km Monorail line.

When the project is functional, it will have 14 Monorail trains of four coaches each, with a capacity of a minimum of 500 commuters.

Fifteen Monorail trains will run at a frequency of 4.5 minutes. Commuters will be charged a fare between Rs 8 and Rs 20, depending upon the distance.