Mumbai Monorail set for month-end relaunch, Metro links to follow

The Mumbai Monorail is set to be revived by the end of the month with work proceeding at either end of the line at Chembur and Arthur Road At Chembur it is being integrated with the phase one of the Mumbai Metro Yellow Line 2B while at Arthur Road a pedestrian skywalk is being built to link it to the Mumbai Metro Aqua Line 3 and the Mahalaxmi railway stationThe final statutory safety inspection of the 1954km corridor is expected to be completed later this month ldquoA governmentappointed retired Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety official will conduct a comprehensive inspection of the entire Monorail corridor before granting the mandatory statutory clearance for passenger operationsrdquo an official saidStalling and renewalMonorail services have remained suspended since September 20 last year following repeated technical failures and multiple incidents The MMRDA has completed procurement of all 10 new MadeinIndia Monorail rakes and has also overhauled the existing fleet The upgrade works included installation of communicationsbased train control CBTC signalling systems and refurbishment of older trainsMetro integrationAt present Line 2Brsquos operational section phase 1 runs from Diamond Garden in Chembur to Mandale Mankhurd Preparatory works are now on at the Chembur station which integrates with the Monorail at the MTNL junction strengthening multimodal connectivity between the Metro and Monorail networks in the eastern suburbsPathway at Mahalaxmi endAt Mahalaxmi a pedestrian pathway is being built directly to the Jacob Circle junction At the south end of the junction the Aqua Line 3 Mahalaxmi station is located and the Mahalaxmi suburban railway station is a few yards awayAn expertrsquos commentAditya Rane Institute for Transportation amp Development Policy ITDPlsquoThe restart of the Monorail is welcome but the real issue is whether the system is finally being integrated into cityrsquos larger public transport network The Monorail suffered from poor interchange planning isolated stations weak firstlastmile access and long headways At its peak daily ridership hovered around only 17000 to 19000 passengers mdash extremely low for a Rs 3000crore urban mass transit investmentThe upcoming interchange with Metro Line 2B and the skywalk connection toward Jacob Circle are important corrective steps Global experience clearly shows that rapid transit systems succeed only when transfers and the last mile are seamless intuitive and physically integratedThe Monorail was originally envisioned as a feederdistributor corridor connecting eastern suburbs with central Mumbai but for years it functioned as a standalone line Even today its biggest challenge is that it does not directly serve the cityrsquos strongest demand corridors like BKC Lower Parel Kurla interchange or dense suburban rail catchments in a seamless mannerThe corridor has often been criticised as a lsquotechnologyfirstrsquo project rather than a mobilityfirst project However the new integration with Metro 2B could improve the situation significantly Recent low ridership on the newly opened Metro 2B section itself also shows the same lesson mdash connectivity matters more than infrastructure aloneIf the Monorail is now operated with reliable frequencies proper maintenance strong multimodal integration unified ticketing and better pedestrian access it can still play a useful feeder role between Chembur Wadala Byculla Mahalaxmi and upcoming Metro corridorsMumbairsquos experience also offers a broader lesson for Indian cities public transport projects should be evaluated not by novelty or engineering complexity but by network integration accessibility frequency and actual passenger utilityrsquoPassenger VoicesHarshad Joshi commuter activistlsquoItrsquos great that the only Monorail line in India is restarting I hope that the focus will be on improving safety measures as there were fire incidents in the pastrsquoAkbar Merchant Metro Line 3 commuterlsquoMetro 3 and the Monorail serve some of the most congested corridors well Better integration at hubs like Chembur and Mahalaxmi can significantly improve connectivity Whatrsquos missing is stronger marketing around time saving Both systems have huge potential if integrated wellrsquoJitesh Utekar commuterrsquoThey should build a skywalk at MTNL junction which will provide a direct and better access to Metro and Mono Ideally the Jacob Circle Monorail station should have been built 400500m south of its present location to save money Hopefully this integration will boost Monorail ridership and commuters from Chembur and Wadala will get direct access to Mahalaxmi and Mumbai Central without changing trainsrsquoKhurshed Lawyer commuterlsquoThere was definitely no need to waste money on a travelator between the Monorail and Metro stations It was much more necessary to have extended the Monorail till Byculla station where it would have guaranteed more footfall The Metro and Monorail wonrsquot benefit each otherrsquo