Monorail's second phase to get Rlys' safety nod in October?

Mumbai: The monorail phase-2 may get safety certification from the Railways by next month, revealed additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Khandare. The contractor, Scomi Engineering, has assured that the repair work for the six rakes in the Wadala depot will be completed as well as the safety certification will be sought from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) for monorail phase-2 by next month.

The CRS will conduct trial runs for around 3,000 km on the same stretch then issue a safety certificate. The MMRDA may commission the monorail phase-2 by December 2017. “Railway safety for commissioning the monorail phase 2 (Wadala to Jacob Circle) will be available by next month. The CRS will come next month,” said Mr Khandare.

Currently, the MMRDA has 10 rakes in possession of which four are operational under the monorail phase I (Chembur to Wadala). However, the remaining six rakes are still under repairs. “In the recent meeting held with the contractors, they assured that remaining six rakes would be repaired by October,” he added.

According to the MMRDA, the contractor is facing financial crunch, which is leading to the delay in repairs of the existing rakes.

The contractor has promised technical upgradation of additional five rakes, which is yet to be sought. Meanwhile, the MMRDA has floated bids for the second time to appoint a new contractor for the operation and management of the monorail from Chembur to Sant Ghadge Marg Chowk.