The 11.2 km corridor from Wadala to Jacob Circle expected to be fully operational by mid-2016
Mumbai : With the first phase of city’s Monorail service already up and running, Mumbaiites are now awaiting the Phase-II to commence so that it creates another North-South rail connectivity for the eastern suburbs of Mumbai.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is planning to start the trial runs for Phase-II that will link Wadala to Sant Gadge Marg, near Mahalaxmi (Jacob Circle) from February 2016. Meanwhile, the 11.2 km corridor is expected to be fully operational by mid-2016, officials added.
According to senior MMRDA officials, more than 80% of the civil work involving reinforced cement concrete and the finishing touches has been completed. “Phase-II will be operational somewhere in the middle of next year, while the trial run will start around January or February,” said UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.
Some electrification work is already going on, but the full electrification will start only start after the civil construction is completed, he added.
The stipulated date for Monorail’s Phase I and II completion was fixed at November 2010 and May 2011, respectively, but Phase I was commissioned in February 2014.
The normal procedure followed by authorities in rail projects involves the installation of systems, an integrated testing, safety certification and inspection by independent engineers.
Currently, the daily number of commuters on the operational 8.8-km corridor, is in the range of 15,000 to 17,000 and this is expected to go up when the entire corridor is operational as for an individual travelling from Chembur to Jacob Circle, it takes around an hour and 15 minutes by road while the Monorail will ferry them within 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the state has decided to scrap all the proposed Monorail projects in the MMR as it hasn’t turned out to be a “game-changer” as it was touted a decade ago.
