Amid recurring glitches, monorail services in Mumbai to be suspended from Sep 20 for system upgrade

Mumbai, Sep 16 (PTI) Monorail services in Mumbai will remain temporarily suspended from September 20 until further notice for comprehensive system upgradation and integration of new infrastructure, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said on Tuesday.

Monorail services in both directions between Chembur and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Saat Rasta) will remain non-operational during this temporary suspension or block, it said in a release.

The MMRDA has also set up a committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the recent technical glitches that disrupted monorail services multiple times in the recent past, including the disruption occurred on Monday morning and on August 19, when hundreds of passengers were stranded in two monorail trains at different locations.

With daily operations running from 6.15 am to 11.30 pm, only a 3.5-hour window at night remains for maintenance and upgrade work, which is insufficient for large-scale testing and installation, particularly since safety protocols require power lines to be discharged and recharged each day, the MMRDA said.

It added that the suspension will facilitate the commissioning of new rolling stock, implementation of advanced Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling, and refurbishment of the existing fleet of monorail trains.

"This planned block will allow faster integration of new rolling stock, advanced CBTC signalling upgrades, and refurbishment of the existing fleet, ensuring safer, smoother, and more reliable operations for Mumbaikars," the release said.

The CBTC system, being indigenously developed in Hyderabad, is being installed for the first time on the Mumbai monorail. The wayside signalling work has been completed and integrated testing is underway.

At present, monorail has about five rakes and in addition, 10 new rakes are being procured under the 'Make in India' initiative from M/s MEDHA in partnership with SMH Rail. Of these, eight have been delivered, while the ninth is under inspection and the tenth is in final assembly, according to the authority.

Highlighting the reasons, the release said that the suspension of services will allow uninterrupted installation, integrated testing of systems and full overhauling of old rakes. It will also help in training and redeployment of manpower for future Metro operations, it said.

"With the cooperation of Mumbaikars, we will bring back the monorail in a stronger form," the release quoted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and MMRDA Chairman Eknath Shinde.

MMRDA Commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee said the suspension is a "carefully thought-out step" to make the system "safer, more dependable, and future-ready".

On Monday, a monorail train came to an abrupt halt on tracks due to a "technical snag" between the Antop Hill Bus Depot and GTBN monorail station in Wadala, following which all 17 passengers onboard were rescued.

On August 19, as many as 582 passengers were stranded on a monorail near Mysore Colony station for several hours amid very heavy rains before being rescued by the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Another monorail train was stuck at Acharya Atre Nagar station, where 200 passengers were evacuated.

Rescue teams, including the Mumbai Fire Brigade and other agencies, took several hours to safely evacuate all passengers amid difficulties caused by rains.

Following these incidents, the MMRDA announced a series of immediate and long-term measures aimed at improving passenger safety and operational efficiency. These included the de-boarding of passengers from overloaded trains.

Since then, on a few occasions over the past month, the authorities stopped monorail trains at various stations to de-board passengers from overcrowded coaches.

Mumbai is home to India's only monorail system, which runs on a 19.74 kilometre route between Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Saat Rasta) in the island city and Chembur in the eastern part of the metropolis. The first phase, covering 8.26 km, was commissioned in February 2014, while the remaining 11.28 km stretch was opened to the public in March 2019. PTI KK NSK NP