Mumbai: Monorail to get more rakes, 50 more trips daily.

India’s first monorail system that runs between Chembur and Wadala will soon increase its services with the expected addition of two more rakes. At present, the monorail operator offers only 130 trips per day.

The Phase One of the monorail got back on track from September 1, after an almost nine-month layoff after a major fire grounded its operations. Currently, services are functioning with only four rakes, according to sources at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), with the shortage of rakes making it difficult to expand operations.

Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, Sanjay Khandare, said, “We have only four rakes that we run on the first phase. Scomi International, which is looking after the monorail operations, have told us that they will provide two more rakes by mid-November,” he said. “Once we get these two rakes, we will be able to increase 50 to 60 trips per day on the first phase.”

Phase I operations were suspended in November last year following a fire, which gutted two coaches of a rake at the Mysore Colony Station on November 9, 2017. While MMRDA earlier hoped to begin operations for both Phase I and II together, the shortage of rakes led it to postpone operations for Phase II until early next year.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS