Come Sunday, and Mumbaikars can enjoy a ride on India?s first monorail, a brand new mode of transport in the city, which is expected to lighten the traffic burden on its overcrowded suburban railway system.
For now, the first phase of the monorail, 8.93 km in length, will be operational. It will run from Wadala on the outskirts of the island city to Chembur in the eastern suburbs. The Mumbai monorail fares, once it is fully operational, will range between Rs 5 and Rs 19, with Rs 5 being the minimum fare. The Mumbai monorail will flaunt itself in three colours ? green, pink and sky blue.
The project is being implemented in two phases ? Chembur to Wadala and Wadala to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk. The seven stations on the 8.93-km long Phase-I of the Monorail corridor are Chembur, VN Purav/RC Marg Junction, Fertilizer Township, Bharat Petroleum, Mysore Colony, Bhakti Park and Wadala Depot.
The project will be constructed and made operational for around Rs 3,000 crore. Once commissioned, the 19.17-km Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle Monorail corridor will be world?s second longest monorail corridor, the longest being Japan?s Osaka Monorail corridor which is 23.8 km, MMRDA, said in a statement, on Thursday.
The much-awaited transport system will be inaugurated by Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on February 1, and the monorail will be thrown open to the public on February 2.
