Pranay Maniar
Mumbai Monorail's Revival: Enhancing Connectivity and Efficiency
Mumbai Monorail is undergoing significant improvements, including fleet expansion and integration with metro lines, aiming to boost ridership and service reliability.
Developed as part of a significant extension of the city's public transportation system, the monorail system serves the suburbs of central and eastern Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) carried out the project and continues to manage it now. This connects the Western, Central, and Harbour lines and goes from Sant Ghadge Maharaj Chowk to Chembur. After releasing portions of Phase 1 to the public in 2014, the system began operating on a commercial scale.
Connecting the unconnected
The Mumbai Monorail was conceptualized as a mode of public transport to connect the region of the city that has no connectivity with the suburban railway which is the primary mode of mass transit in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The monorail hoped to provide access to areas like Antop Hill, Bhakti Park and Fertilizer Township which had to be accessed by buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws which added to the congestion of already narrow and high-traffic routes.
Route map of Mumbai Monorail, Pic: MMDRA
These localities experienced rapid residential and industrial growth due to low land prices, the presence of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited ( ) refinery, close proximity to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre ( ) and the opening of the Eastern Freeway.
The Mumbai Monorail connected these areas to three lines Harbour, Central and Western of the Mumbai Suburban Railway at Chembur, Currey Road and Mumbai Central respectively.
A remarkable plan on paper, however, the monorail received temporary success as it clocked in over 61 lakh commuters and experienced a sharp decline through the years.
Mumbai’s white elephant
Built at a cost of over Rs. 2700 crores, The MMRDA’s plans came down crashing due to inefficient planning, poor service, technical difficulties and delays in the opening of the project as the monorail saw a constant decline in its ridership since its launch in the year 2014 turning the rail into a mere joyride for citizen rather than acting as an alternative to the bus routes, autos and taxis.
Poor planning, technical snags, power failures and low frequency caused a severe plummet in the number of riders. The low Frequency of the trains was a major factor in commuters preferring buses instead. In November 2017, a fire gutted several rakes, putting the entire network to a halt for almost a year until September 2018. After its opening in 2018, the line’s frequency dropped down to 30 to 40 minutes.
The monorail clocked in a modest revenue of a mere of Rs. 7.29 crore annually as per data accessed by Hindustan Times in 2020.
Furthermore, the monorail has suffered issues like rakes coming to a halt mid-way, causing it commuters to be stranded for hours until help arrived.
A Right to Information (RTI) appeal filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali revealed that the three-year delay in commissioning the monorail was primarily due to a change of alignment of its route, which led to the further cost increase of the project.
Despite this, there is a glimmer of hope for the transit system as it is seen to be having a rise in ridership.
Rise in ridership
There has been a nominal rate of growth in ridership since the opening of phase-2 from Wadala Bridge to Sant Ghage Maharaj Chowk. Moreover, the MMRDA has announced to reduce of the frequency to 18 minutes with the introduction of 10 additional rakes doubling the service to 250 a day.
A recent report by the Indian Express highlights the success of the monorail project, which has seen a staggering 36.6 lakh commuters in the past six years, suggesting that the initiative may prove to be a viable transportation option. To further enhance the existing transit system, the monorail authority has proposed constructing foot-over bridges (FOBs) that will link the planned metro and current train stations, paving the way for a seamless transportation experience. This multi-modal integration strategy is expected to attract over 1.5 lakh daily riders in the next three years.
The goal is for these components to cooperate to make the city's transportation system more effective.
A research in the International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) claims that the Mumbai Monorail system has several benefits and is perfect as a feeder for MRTSs like the metro and suburban railway.
Wadala, Currey Road, and Chembur are some of the links that connect the monorail to the suburban rail system.
The authority has planned for Metro Line-4, which will run between Wadala and Kasarvadavali, to interact with the monorail station at Bhakti Park in order to provide connectivity with the city's developing metro network.
The Jacob Circle Monorail Station will also include a 300 m bridge to link to the Colaba-Seepz Metro Line-3 and the suburban train station.
Other connections include the V N Purav Station on the monorail, which is adjacent to the V N Purav Station on Metro Line 2B, and the Wadala Bridge Station on the monorail, which is close to the current Vadala Road Western Railway Station.
Cover Pic: MetroRailNews
Pranay Maniar
5th May 2023•5 mins read
Mumbai Monorail's Revival: Enhancing Connectivity and Efficiency
Mumbai Monorail is undergoing significant improvements, including fleet expansion and integration with metro lines, aiming to boost ridership and service reliability.
Developed as part of a significant extension of the city's public transportation system, the monorail system serves the suburbs of central and eastern Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) carried out the project and continues to manage it now. This connects the Western, Central, and Harbour lines and goes from Sant Ghadge Maharaj Chowk to Chembur. After releasing portions of Phase 1 to the public in 2014, the system began operating on a commercial scale.
Connecting the unconnected
The Mumbai Monorail was conceptualized as a mode of public transport to connect the region of the city that has no connectivity with the suburban railway which is the primary mode of mass transit in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The monorail hoped to provide access to areas like Antop Hill, Bhakti Park and Fertilizer Township which had to be accessed by buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws which added to the congestion of already narrow and high-traffic routes.
Route map of Mumbai Monorail, Pic: MMDRA
These localities experienced rapid residential and industrial growth due to low land prices, the presence of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited ( ) refinery, close proximity to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre ( ) and the opening of the Eastern Freeway.
The Mumbai Monorail connected these areas to three lines Harbour, Central and Western of the Mumbai Suburban Railway at Chembur, Currey Road and Mumbai Central respectively.
A remarkable plan on paper, however, the monorail received temporary success as it clocked in over 61 lakh commuters and experienced a sharp decline through the years.
Mumbai’s white elephant
Built at a cost of over Rs. 2700 crores, The MMRDA’s plans came down crashing due to inefficient planning, poor service, technical difficulties and delays in the opening of the project as the monorail saw a constant decline in its ridership since its launch in the year 2014 turning the rail into a mere joyride for citizen rather than acting as an alternative to the bus routes, autos and taxis.
Poor planning, technical snags, power failures and low frequency caused a severe plummet in the number of riders. The low Frequency of the trains was a major factor in commuters preferring buses instead. In November 2017, a fire gutted several rakes, putting the entire network to a halt for almost a year until September 2018. After its opening in 2018, the line’s frequency dropped down to 30 to 40 minutes.
The monorail clocked in a modest revenue of a mere of Rs. 7.29 crore annually as per data accessed by Hindustan Times in 2020.
Furthermore, the monorail has suffered issues like rakes coming to a halt mid-way, causing it commuters to be stranded for hours until help arrived.
A Right to Information (RTI) appeal filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali revealed that the three-year delay in commissioning the monorail was primarily due to a change of alignment of its route, which led to the further cost increase of the project.
Despite this, there is a glimmer of hope for the transit system as it is seen to be having a rise in ridership.
Rise in ridership
There has been a nominal rate of growth in ridership since the opening of phase-2 from Wadala Bridge to Sant Ghage Maharaj Chowk. Moreover, the MMRDA has announced to reduce of the frequency to 18 minutes with the introduction of 10 additional rakes doubling the service to 250 a day.
A recent report by the Indian Express highlights the success of the monorail project, which has seen a staggering 36.6 lakh commuters in the past six years, suggesting that the initiative may prove to be a viable transportation option. To further enhance the existing transit system, the monorail authority has proposed constructing foot-over bridges (FOBs) that will link the planned metro and current train stations, paving the way for a seamless transportation experience. This multi-modal integration strategy is expected to attract over 1.5 lakh daily riders in the next three years.
The goal is for these components to cooperate to make the city's transportation system more effective.
A research in the International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) claims that the Mumbai Monorail system has several benefits and is perfect as a feeder for MRTSs like the metro and suburban railway.
Wadala, Currey Road, and Chembur are some of the links that connect the monorail to the suburban rail system.
The authority has planned for Metro Line-4, which will run between Wadala and Kasarvadavali, to interact with the monorail station at Bhakti Park in order to provide connectivity with the city's developing metro network.
The Jacob Circle Monorail Station will also include a 300 m bridge to link to the Colaba-Seepz Metro Line-3 and the suburban train station.
Other connections include the V N Purav Station on the monorail, which is adjacent to the V N Purav Station on Metro Line 2B, and the Wadala Bridge Station on the monorail, which is close to the current Vadala Road Western Railway Station.
Cover Pic: MetroRailNews