MONORAIL IN INDIA

After years of delay and many operational hiccups, the country’s first Monorail service made its debut in Mumbai on Saturday. Maharashtrachief minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the service, which will open to public on Sunday."Commercial operations of the 8.9-km first phase connecting Wadala-Chembur stations on the northeastern fringe of the megalopolis will commence tomorrow (Sunday) with the first train leaving the Wadala station at 7am," Chavan said.TheRs.3,000-crore project is being implemented in two phases. The second phase will take another year for completion, said Chavan.Monorail after it was inaugurated by Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan from Wadala to Chembur in Mumbai. (HT Photo)TheRs.1,900-crore section is expected to ferry around two lakh passengers a month and will supplement the suburban conventional train network across the metropolis.In the second phase, services will be extended to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in south Mumbai.The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which owns and operates Monorail, has fixed fares betweenRs.5 andRs.11.Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan arrivers to inaugurat the country's first Monorail service in Mumbai. (Kunal Patil/ HT Photo)Initially, the services will operate withfour coaches having a combined carrying capacity of around 570 passengers at an interval of every 15 minutes."The MMRDA has already spentRs.1,900 crore ofRs.3,000 crore allocated for the project, including the civil work for the second phase," Chavan said.The authority plans to extend the train to six coaches and increase the frequency of services up to every nine minutes and then to four minutes, going forward with six coaches.AA file photo of Mumbai monorail after its inauguration. (HT Photo)"The Mumbai Monorail is not just thefirst in the country, but across the subcontinent. Monorails are in operation in China, Japan, Singapore,Australia, Dubai, Europe, and the Americas," the chief minister said.The Monorail, a light rapid transport system, is set to change the way Mumbaikars travel as access to its air-conditioned coaches will be through smart-card tickets, lifts and escalators at overhead stations.