MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided that the Monorail corridor will be linked with Colaba-Seepz underground Metro 3 line which will improve the connectivity to Mahalaxmi-Parel-Wadala areas.
Mahalaxmi Metro station which is under construction will be connected to the Chembur-Jacob Circle monorail corridor which will be extended by about 500 meters. The move is expected to make Monorail operations more viable and provide seamless connectivity to its commuters. MMRDA officials said that the discussions on how to go ahead with the extension and the cost of the project is ongoing. After that MMRDA plans to float bids for the construction of the additional track route and a station which will be named as Mahalaxmi Monorail station.
“We are planning to extend the Monorail route by around 450 to 500 meters and connect it with the Mahalaxmi Metro station. This will make the Monorail more viable considering it is in loss now, and also give commuters the option to travel from south Mumbai travel up to Chembur seamlessly via the interchange at Mahalaxmi Metro station. From here, commuters can take a Monorail and go up to Chembur,” said SVR Srinivas, Metropolitan Commissioner of the MMRDA.
“The current waiting period for Monorail is very high, say around 25 minutes or even more with just three trains. However, we have already placed orders for more rakes. They will start coming in phases in two years. Simultaneously, we also plan to start the construction of the extension of Monorail from Jacob Circle to Mahalaxmi Metro station”, he added.
According to the officials, the extension of Monorail beyond Chembur is under the planning stage but it is not under active thought at present. Plans to link Monorail with the Wadala-Thane Metro-4 corridor is being considered so it can be connected to thickly populated areas of central Mumbai, including Dadar, Lower Parel, Chinchpokli. On the other line, the Colaba-Seepz Metro-3 corridor will run from south Mumbai from places like Girgaon, Mumbai Central going further into central Mumbai’s hugely populated areas like Worli, Siddhivinayak Temple in Dadar, Mahim, Dharavi and further via airport to Seepz in Andheri. The MMRDA is also constructing the Andheri-Dahisar Metro-7 corridor that will be fully operational by year-end.
The Mumbai Monorail corridor which is being built at a cost of over ₹2,000 crores, starts from Chembur and passes via Wadala. The operations began in February 2014 but it has been receiving criticism due to poor ridership and multiple technical issues. Of the 10 rakes, only three are currently operational between Chembur and Jacob Circle and the ridership is below 50,000 commuters daily.
Good idea. They should also explore the feasibility of extending the line till Ghatkopar station – connect with CR Suburban and Metro 1.