Mumbai Monorail comes to a halt due to technical glitch, passengers evacuated
Picture: Shreyash Labde
A technical glitch brought Mumbai Monorail services to a grinding halt on early Monday morning.
The Monorail service came to a halt around 6:30 am on Monday morning, when a train became unoperational near Bhakti Park station. Since then, services between Wadala Depot and Bharat Petroleum have come to a standstill. However, service between Bharat Petroleum and Chembur is still functional.
According to an official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the service was likely affected due to a problem with the rake’s power supply. A team is currently trying to fix the issue and bring the service back on track.
Around 11 passengers were stuck inside the Monorail for over 30 minutes, before a crane was deployed to evacuate them. As of 9:30 am, all passengers were successfully evacuated from the Monorail.
In March 2015, a similar incident had left passengers stranded near Bhakti Park station. Then too, fire brigade had to be called in to evacuate the passengers.
Update (11 am): Monorail services have been restored as of 11 am.
Picture: Shreyash Labde
Picture: Shreyash Labde
About Mumbai Monorail
The construction on the Mumbai Monorail began in 2009 and the first line, between Wadala Depot and Chembur, was opened to the public on 2 February 2014. The monorail travels at an average speed of 65 km/h and can carry upto 568 passengers in a 4-coach rake.
The second phase of the Monorail, consisting of 11 stations from Wadala Depot to Jacob Circle, will be built at a cost of Rs 1,900 crore. It is scheduled to open in September 2016.
