Bumps on monorail track to go

Trials of the monorail have revealed that the surface of the guideway beam — on which the monorail will run — is uneven. Officials have said that corrective measures will be taken in the coming months to ensure that commuters don’t have a bumpy ride.

“Works needs to be undertaken to smoothen the surface of the guideway beam. It will be carried out in the coming weeks,” said officials connected with the Mumbai Monorail project. The process of levelling the guideway beam is called grinding.

After taking a ride on the monorail on February 16, chief secretary JK Banthia had specified that the services need to be made smoother.

It will take a week’s time to grind the uneven surfaces on the guideway beam between the 8.8-km-long stretch between Wadala and Chembur. However, the authorities have not yet decided when the work will be undertaken.

PRK Murthy, chief, transport and communications, MMRDA, said, “The guideway beam is uneven as the systems are new. The more it is used, the better it will get.”

Plans are also on to provide more handlebars inside the coaches, as the monorail tends to tilt at curves or turnings. There are a total of 93 curves on the Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur stretch.

Work is also underway to install 363 cameras on the entire corridor as well as in the coaches. Each coach will have two closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The first phase has seven stations — Wadala Depot, Bhakti Park, Mysore Colony, Bharat Petroleum, Fertiliser Township, VN Purav Marg & RC Marg Junction and Chembur. It is planned for inauguration in August this year.

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