Mumbai Monorail to get more coaches, but it's not clear when it will run

MMRDA said the delay is on account of the contractor's inability to arrange spare parts for the trains

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) expects more rakes to be made available for the Mumbai Monorail project by December this year. It is still unclear when the city transit project will be fully operational. “At present, only six out of the 10 rakes delivered by LTSE are available for operational purposes. Two more are expected to be available by December 2018 and another two by February 2019,” a spokesperson for MMRDA said on Wednesday. 

The authority added the delay is on account of the contractor’s inability to arrange spare parts for the trains.

LTSE is the consortium of Larsen & Toubro and Scomi Engineering. The first phase of the Mumbai Monorail has remained shut since last year after a fire accident in November, as MMRDA did not restart operations. “Due to non-availability of spare parts of RSTs, the number of working trains has been reduced for sustainable operations,” MMRDA said in its response. 

 

MMRDA said efforts are on to open the second phase of Mumbai Monorail at the earliest. However, the authority did not share a timeline for the same. Meanwhile, MMRDA is also in the process to evaluate bidders for the operations and maintenance contract for Mumbai Monorail. “Tenders have been invited and offers are under evaluation,” the monorail authority said. 

MMRDA is also negotiating new ridership rates with LTSE, the current operator. “LTSE has requested for new trip rates," MMRDA added. Under the construction contract for the Mumbai Monorail, LTSE was to construct and then operate the transit system for the first three years for a fixed per trip fee. According to sources, the earlier rate was Rs 4,000 per trip, on which the company now seeks a hike. 

Officials at L&T did not respond to queries on the Mumbai Monorail. According to MMRDA data, the first phase of the Mumbai Monorail saw an average ridership of 16,000 passengers per day. “It is expected to be more than one lakh passengers per day when the entire stretch (both phased) is opened for operations,” MMRDA said in its response.