The trial runs are conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) and the process would require at least four trains, officials said.
After failing to operate the monorail efficiently, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now expressed difficulty in carrying out trial runs for the second phase that will operate between Wadala and Jacob Circle. The agency on Saturday said a shortage of trains was the reason behind the hassle.
Keeping aside the operations of the first phase, now the MMRDA is unable to run a minimum number of trains for trial runs. The MMRDA said since over a year only four out of its ten trains are functional. The trial runs are conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) and the process would require at least four trains, officials said.
"If we use the four trains for trial runs, the operation between Wadala and Chembur would have to be shut. Since it is not possible to close the services, we have requested Scomi Engineering, the Malaysian operator, to make two more trains available. This is to ensure that we get sufficient trains for trial runs," said a senior MMRDA official. "Currently, we are conducting test runs for which the four trains are sufficient, but when we approach the CRS, we would need more trains for balancing operations and trial runs," the official said.
Of the 10 trains in the first phase, only four are functional. The rest are under maintenance. Scomi is yet to deliver the additional five rakes, as per contract with MMRDA. The MMRDA has put the blame on the Malaysian operator, Scomi Engineering for not making the trains available that are lying unused at the Monorail depot in Wadala.
However, a detailed email sent to Scomi Engineering, in regards to the allegations by MMRDA, did not yield any response.
Ever since the first phase of the monorail was commissioned between Wadala and Chembur, it has been in the news for constant breakdowns in the rakes. The first phase of Monorail between Wadala and Chembur was made operational in 2014 and the second phase is expected to be made operational in December.
Meanwhile, the MMRDA floated bids to appoint a new operator for the Monorail corridor between Chembur and Jacob Circle.
Off the tracks
In July 2017, Monorail halted halfway into the Chembur station due to power failure.
Further, in 2016, services were disrupted thrice due to problems related to tyre bursts and tyre fall of the rolling stock. Services were also disrupted several times due doors opening or problems in electrification.
In 2015, a rake was stuck midsection near Bhakti Park, Wadala.
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