Malaysian born S Ponnadurai will test run the light blue rake of the monorail, which arrived in Mumbai on January 13.
The city’s first monorail test ride on Tuesday will have a person of Indian origin in the driver’s seat, with a number of technocrats, dignitaries and the chief minister present to cheer it on. Malaysian born S Ponnadurai will test run the light blue rake of the monorail, which arrived in the city on January 13.
“I am excited about the opportunity to test run this rake in Mumbai. My roots are in Pondicherry, though I have never been there.
Unfortunately, I won’t get a chance to go there due to a packed schedule. However, in my subsequent trips to India, I will definitely visit Pondicherry,” a beaming Ponnadurai said at the site in Aanik road, Wadala, on Monday. Although Ponnadurai, who has been driving monorails for the last 10 years, is most likely to drive the rake, Scomi, the company which will operate the monorails in the city, has a backup fleet of expert drivers who are running the KL Star monorail in Kuala Lumpur for the test run on Tuesday.
Engineers of Larsen & Toubro, along with experts from Scomi, and consultants from Louis Berger, are busy giving the 110-metre test run the final touches for the past few days. The ramp, near Aanik bus depot, stretches over 250 metres.
On Monday, the barricaded Aanik road was full of motorists peeping out of their cars and taking pictures on their mobile phones of the first monorail, which began test runs late Monday evening. “The trial run is being carried out to check the alignment of the track,” said Azmi Abdul Aziz, in-charge of operations, Scomi.
The chief minister will be shown the rake, currently being tested using generator power. Once ready, the 20-km track will have seven power substations. The Rs2,460-crore project will be completed by 2011.
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