Nation's first monorail will be built in Mumbai within 30 months

Mumbai: India's first monorail will be built here as a pilot project from central Mumbai to a north-east suburb as part of a city plan to establish a monorail system in various parts of the metropolis.

Monorail is a modern transport system where the train cars move on a single beam in an elevated corridor.

The 19.5 kilometre route will start from Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Jacob's Circle) and head north-east to Chembur covering 18 stations en route. These include Chichpokli, Lower Parel, Dadar East, Wadala Bridge, Antop Hill, GTB Nagar, Wadala depot, Bharat Petroleum, Fertiliser Township, VN Purav and RC Choithram Marg junction and finally Chembur railway station.

Monorail is expected not just to ease congestion in crowded areas where roads cannot be widened nor flyovers built since land is a scarce resource in Mumbai, it will service those routes not covered by the suburban railway network and the proposed Metro Rail.

In addition, it will provide interconnectivity to the existing transport system.

Project details

Last week, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) awarded Larsen and Toubro Ltd, India, and its consortium partner Scomi Engineering, Malaysia, the implementation of the monorail project.

The project will cover the design works, development, construction, commissioning and maintenance of the monorail system to be completed within 30 months.

The proposed design will include the supply and operation of a fleet of 15 train sets consisting of four cars in each set, complying with the highest standards of safety and reliability. The design makes it possible to execute the project on a fast-track as it requires a small foot-print and facilitates implementation with minimal demolition of structures. Monorail also helps in negotiating sharp curves and can handle gradients up to six per cent.

Ecologically friendly

Some of its other plus points are faster construction time and being environmentally friendly since it does not obstruct sunlight nor trap toxic exhaust emissions.

The pre-qualification application proposal for the monorail project was submitted in January 2008, and the project was awarded "after a long and thorough evaluation process by MMRDA," said Shah Hakim Zain, Group CEO of Scomi.

"We already have our project execution team in place in Mumbai and have commenced preparatory works to kick-off the project."

He also added, "We have been actively presenting our monorail technology proposals in Bangalore, Pune, New Delhi and Patna in India."