uction of 8 lines at a cost of 202.96 billion (US$3.2 billion). Further development of the monorail system is on hold, and questions have been raised as to whether the proposed monorail corridors will have sufficient capacity to meet Mumbai's requirements.
|1||Line 1 – Chembur – Wadala – Jacob Circle||19.54||27.16 billion (US$430 million)|
|1||Mulund – Goregaon – Borivali||30||41.7 billion (US$670 million)|
|1||Virar – Chikhaldongri||4.60||6399 million (US$100 million)|
|1||Lokhandwala – SEEPZ – Kanjurmarg||13.14||18265 million (US$290 million)|
|1||Thane – Mira-Bhayandar – Dahisar||24.25||33708 million (US$540 million)|
|2||Kalyan – Ulhasnagar – Dombivli||26.40||36696 million (US$590 million)|
|2||Chembur – Ghatkopar – Kopar Khairane||16.72||36863 million (US$590 million)|
|2||Mahape – Shil Phata – Kalyan||21.10||29329 million (US$470 million)|
In September 2011, the MMRDA said that did not have an immediate plan to start the construction of a second monorail in the region. They clarified that although it did not mean that they are not interested in carrying out the project, it may not follow the currently planned schedule. The MMRDA decided to put on hold all plans for the expansion of the monorail till the first route was commissioned. An MMRDA official stated, "There is no point in going for new routes. As long as the first route is not commissioned and the results are not out, we would not commission any new routes". MMRDA feels the need for a monorail would arise after all the proposed metro rail routes were commissioned with the monorail serving as a feeder service."
The MMRDA shelved the project to construct a monorail corridor from Thane to Kalyan and Bhiwandi in February 2014, citing low ridership estimates and availability of cheaper road transport alternatives. The development authority had planned to construct the corridor to serve as a feeder system to a metro project planned in Thane. U.P.S. Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner at the MMRDA, stated, "Having a monorail to connect to the Wadala-Kasarvadavali Metro was the original plan, but it was not found to be feasible. There was not enough ridership on the corridor and we found that a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) would be a more effective and cheaper option there." The MMRDA had originally planned to construct the Thane monorail as a standalone project to provide connectivity to Thane railway station, but altered the plan in order to provide hybrid connectivity of the metro and monorail from Teen Haath Naka in Thane to Bhiwandi and another arm to Kalyan. The proposed corridor would have been 23.75 km long, and cost approximately 3,169 crore.
The Mumbai Monorail was officially inaugurated on 1 February 2014 by Prithviraj Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharshtra. It became the first monorail system in India. The service was made available for public from 2 February. He said after inaugurating the service—
The commercial operations of the partial initial 8.9-km first phase connecting Wadala-Chembur stations on the northeastern fringe of the megalopolis will commence tomorrow with the first train leaving the Wadala station at 7 am.
Chavan also said that it will take one more year to complete the project. The people of Mumbai warmly welcomed the new service in their city. Around 20,000 rode the monorail on its first day of operation, with long queues reported at stations.
According to studies conducted by the Mumbai Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) during the monorail trial run, it was found that the monorail produces between 65 – 85 decibels of noise, significantly lower than the 95 decibel noise level of a BEST Bus.
The monorail will have a top speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), an average speed of 65 kilometres per hour (40 mph) and the overall speed including dwell time at stations would be around 31 kilometres per hour (19 mph).
Capacity and frequency
The capacity of each four-car consist is 568 commuters under a 'crush load' and 852 passengers for a six-car consist. There are roughly 18 seated and 124 standing passengers per carriage (the en