Monorail rolls into home stretch

The monorail trials between Chembur and Wadala have entered the final stage and by mid-July all the trials will have been completed. According to sources, all the standalone trials are all but over. All that remains to be completed is the system integration test, which has begun.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, MMRDA conducted review meetings of the project in which the topic of comprehensive testing was also discussed. “System integration testing in which all the systems like rolling stock, signalling, telecommunications, control room, etc are tested together to check if it throws any errors has started,” said an official. Standalone testing is done of every system independently and these include telecommunications and signalling.

Sources said some of the last signalling checks are currently underway as is testing of  telecommunication. MMRDA has appointed Singapore-based SMART agency to monitor the tests. A retired commissioner of Railway Safety too will carry out tests simultaneously. Besides, another agency will be appointed for safety certification of the first phase of the Mumbai monorail. The second phase includes the Wadala – Jacob Circle that is likely to be commissioned by mid-2014.