The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said on Tuesday that the Mumbai monorail services will remain suspended from September 20 for "comprehensive system upgradation".
In a release on Tuesday, the MMRDA said monorail services in both directions between Chembur and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Saat Rasta) will remain non-operational during this temporary suspension or block. According to the authority, the suspension of services was required as the less than four-hour window in the night wasn't sufficient to carry out necessary upgradations.
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.
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, it added. "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.
Among various initiatives to improve monorail services, MMRDA is procuring 10 new rakes, of which eight have been delivered. "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 as saying. MMRDA Commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee said the suspension was a step to make the system "safer, more dependable, and future-ready".
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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, PTI reported.
Home to India's only monorail system, the Mumbai monorail 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 8.26km, was commissioned in February 2014, while the remaining 11.28km stretch was opened to the public in March 2019.