MUMBAI: Mumbai monorail cleared the last and biggest hurdle on Sunday as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority ( MMRDA) laid a 62-metre-long steel bridge over railway lines near Curry Road station.
The monorail bridge being laid near Currey Road on Sunday.
MMRDA now expects the second phase of the project — 10.2-km Wadala to Jacob Circle stretch — to be operational by mid-next year.
The project has been delayed by over four years mainly owing to the time being taken by the railway authorities in granting permission to launch girders on railway lines near Wadala and Curry Road stations, combined with the issues related to the land acquisition and slow pace of work.
The railways had rejected MMRDA’s design of the bridge last year after it found that railways’ plan of laying fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and CST was not considered. The development body launched bridge for monorail near the harbour line Wadala station in June this year.
The 8.8-km first phase of monorail project — Chembur to Wadala — was thrown open to public in last year but has yet to get the desired response.
Once the second phase is operational, the monorail will see more commuters as it is set to connect the eastern and western parts of the city, four suburban railways stations, Dr Ambedkar Road and the Sion-Panvel highway. One will be able to travel from Chembur to Jacob Circle in 35-45 minutes in the comforts of an air-conditioned monorail.
A four-rake monorail can carry up to 578 passengers, while a sixrake one can carry to 862 passengers.
At present, only around 15,000 commuters are using the service daily, while the Mumbai Metro is being used by about 2.5 lakh commuters.
According to MMRDA officials, only 50 lakh commuters used the monorail in the first year of its operation. Keeping the Assembly elections in mind, the previous Congress-led government had reduced monorail fare to Rs5 to Rs11 from the planned Rs9 to Rs20. This has taken a toll on the revenue generation.
The MMRDA is incurring losses to tune of Rs10 to Rs12 lakh everyday owing to poor response from commuters and low fares.
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