The lockdown period has been utilised by authorities to revamp or complete certain projects. For instance, the Mumbai Monorail has been working to rebuild two trains by the end of the current lockdown period, which will take the total number of its operations to six.
According to a statement from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the lockdown period was utilised to procure spare parts, including 18 brake callipers, 98 tyres and 16 bogie shock absorbers, for the two trains.
“We are aiming to repair two more trains by May 31 or the week after that. When we restart in phases, we will have six trains and an additional one at standby with a frequency of 15 mins,” a senior official from MMRDA said.
The official said that the team is also undertaking civil, electrical and signalling maintenance works during the lockdown period. “We are also undertaking online training for station masters and train operators,” the official said.
With the two trains, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) aims to better the frequency to 15 minutes, which currently even extends to 45 minutes at times. The new services will give relief to commuters who have been complaining about the poor frequency of the 19.5-km Chembur-Saat Rasta corridor since it became operational a year back.
It is also likely to improve the monorail’s ridership. Till March only around 38 lakh commuters had used the monorail in a year, which is a mere 10% of the estimated ridership of 3.60 crore. MMRDA at that time stated that it can achieve the desired ridership only when 10 rakes are in operation.