World | India
Monorail network for Mumbai planned
The Maharashtra government's proposal to introduce four monorail routes in the state capital Mumbai could ease congestion to an extent but does not present a viable solution to crowded suburban trains, says a transport expert.
- By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent
- Published: 23:51 October 3, 2007
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government's proposal to introduce four monorail routes in the state capital Mumbai could ease congestion to an extent but does not present a viable solution to crowded suburban trains, says a transport expert.
The 25-kilometre monorail route from Malabar Hill to Bandra-Kurla-Complex (BKC), which is to be completed in two years' time, seems to be aimed at those going by road to the financial hub at BKC, says Sudhir Badami, a civil engineer from IIT Bombay and one of the advisers on the committee of the Mumbai Transformation Project.
Badami is sceptical about the project, saying it favours the affluent (those with cars) while turning a blind eye to those using overcrowded suburban trains.
Capacity disparity
Mumbai's suburban trains have a passenger per direction per hour (PPDPH) of 180,000 as compared to the monorail's 15,000.
"Construction of the Mumbai Metro has yet to take off. It has already been postponed till January though the work is to have started in October this year," observes Badami. Apparently the cost of building the Metro has got to the government. Estimates put Metro costs at more than 200 rupees per km as compared to 60-70 rupees per km for the monorail. The first 11.7-km corridor from Versova to Ghatkopar has been considerably delayed.
Land acquisition is the major hitch for the Metro unlike the monorail, which requires much less land to lay and run.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) will invite global expression of interest bids for a consultant to build the monorail on its behalf by March 2008. The MMRDA will take into consideration the recommendations of various groups working on infrastructure projects, including the Metro rail and the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, before finalising the project.
Short haul
Routes to serve as feeder for Metro
The three monorail routes to be built by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) are: Malabar Hill-Haji Hill-Jacob Circle-Wadala Truck Terminus-Sion Hospital-BKC; Chembur-Mahul-Gidwani Road-Govandi-Chembur (10 km); and Lokhandwala Complex-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road-Kanjurmarg (10 km). The Thane-Kalyan-Bhiwandi (25 km) route falls outside the city. The monorail network is expected to work as a feeder for the existing railways and for the Metro lines.
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