Mumbai: To get the Monorail services back on track, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning to directly source spare parts for rakes worth close to ₹30 crore from vendors, MMRDA Commissioner U.P.S. Madan said. “We are planning to pay the vendors directly for the spares, which will be sourced by the contractor, L&T and Scomi Engineering. We’re waiting for them to agree to this arrangement. The contractor is facing financial issues, and is unable to get credit. The vendor will also be reassured regarding payment.”
Presently, there are 10 Monorail rakes, of which six are functional and the remaining are in various stages of repair. A senior MMRDA officer said, “Two need minor spares costing around ₹6 crore, while the other two require many critical components, which will cost around ₹22 crore and will take nearly five months to source.” He added that as per plans, services using the six working rakes should start in two weeks, with trains running at intervals of 20 to 22 minutes. When all 10 rakes are functional, the frequency will increase to one service every 15 minutes or so.
Mr. Madan said the final report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is expected this week, based on which the State government will issue a formal notification for services to commence. The CRS examined the stretch between Wadala and Jacob Circle last week, and sought details on the number of rakes, spare parts and manpower, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner Sanjay Khandare said. “We should be able to answer his queries. The CRS seemed satisfied with the infrastructure arrangements.”
Monorail services between Chembur and Wadala were discontinued after a fire damaged two coaches have been completely shut since November 9, when a fire damaged two coaches of a train. A decision was taken to start the complete line at once. Phase two, between Wadala and Jacob Circle, has seen several delays and MMRDA has also been levying a fine of Rs 7.5 lakhs per day on the consortium of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Scomi Engineering of Malaysia (LTSE) since January 1.
MMRDA will also be appointing a new operator, for which financial bids made by Reliance Infrastructure and IL&FS will be opened later this week.
