Mumbai: This Diwali, there was an 18 per cent increase in monorail ridership (Chembur-Wadala Depot-Jacob Circle), according to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). On an average, 11,000 people use the monorail daily. This festive season, around 1,980 more preferred this mode of travel, said officials. Currently, five of 10 monorail rakes are in operation, at a frequency of 22 minutes between 6am and 10pm.
Besides this, an official informed, two rakes that are under repairs at the Wadala Depot will be put into operation by November 12. The previous monorail operator, Malaysian company SCOMI Engineering, had bought a total of 10 rakes, of which only a few were used on Phase 1 of the service (Chembur-Wadala Depot), while the rest were out of repair for want of spare parts.
Last December, the MMRDA terminated the contract with SCOMI for the latter's failure to meet its contractual obligations. After a delay of five years, the MMRDA took over the operations and Phase 2 operations began on March 3.
An MMRDA official also said, in the first week of November, the bids received for the procurement of 10 more new rakes will be opened. The authority had floated a global tender for this purpose. With additional rakes, the MMRDA hopes to improve the frequency of service to five minutes on an average and thereby attract more riders.
