From technical snag to TV wires, Mumbai’s Monorail goes off track again

The technical snag in the Monorail’s automatic protection system occurred near Vashi Naka in Chembur around 2.45pm, when it was heading to Chembur station from Wadala.

Just a day after the Monorail took off on the 8.9-km Chembur-Wadala route, two services were hit by a technical snag and hanging cable TV wires which got entangled with the door of a rake near Chembur on Sunday.

The fire brigade had to cut the cable wires when it got engulfed with a Monorail door on Sunday.(HT Photo)

The technical snag in the Monorail’s automatic protection system occurred near Vashi Naka in Chembur around 2.45pm, when it was heading to Chembur station from Wadala. The other incident occurred when cable TV wire got entangled with a door of the Monorail between Chembur and VN Purav Marg stations at 3.30pm, while heading to Wadala.

“Monorail had to be stopped between Chembur and VN Purav Marg stations today as a cable TV network wire got entangled and obstructed the Monorail’s cruise. The fire brigade resolved the matter by cutting the cable wires,” said Dilip Kavatkar, public relations officer of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

According to MMRDA officials, a police complaint will be registered against the cable operator responsible. Kavatkar said the Monorail rake that developed a technical snag was taken to the Wadala maintenance depot for repair.

There were 60 passengers in the first rake. In both cases, the Monorail rakes were taken to the next station before commuters got off. MMRDA spokesperson claimed that the Monorail services were running normally later on Sunday. MMRDA started Monorail operations with four trains, with one on standby from Saturday, 10 months after the services were suspended following a fire incident in November 2017.

The services on the corridor run from 6am to 10pm daily, with a frequency of 15 minutes. The fares on the stretch are between ₹5, ₹7, ₹9 and ₹11. Revised fares will be implemented once the Wadala-Jacob Circle phase 2 is started.