Procurement of conductor rail delays monorail trial run

The trial runs for the second phase of Monorail between Wadala and Jacob Circle has hit another hurdle this time with the conductor rail that was damaged last month, taking another three months for procurement from a firm in the UK. This will result in the delay over commissioning of the second phase, now around May instead of the earlier deadline of early 2017.

Last month, the conductor rail (a rail transmitting current) came off at an under-construction site of the Monorail phase II on October 7. Following this, an inquiry was set up and the UK firm that had supplied was summoned. However, to rectify the problem now another conductor rail will have to be installed for safety purposes. “We have asked the contractor to install a new conductor rail and the procedure for that means that it would have to be procured by the contractor after floating bids in UK and the process would easily take another three months,” said a MMRDA official. Currently, MMRDA is able to carry out trial runs only between Wadala and Mint colony, Parel.

To go ahead till Jacob Circle in Mahalaxmi, the MMRDA will have to wait for the rail to be installed. “It is very important for us to commence the trial runs on the second phase. According to the norms, we will have to run rolling stocks for at least 3,000-km to qualify for safety clearance from the commissioner of railway safety,” said the official.