Extended Monorail run sees paltry turnout
Only 15,000 travelled by Monorail on April 15, the first day when services were extended to 14 hrs; MMRDA blames vacations.
Two-and-a-half months on, the initial excitement generated by the Mumbai Monorail appears to be gradually on the wane.
On April 15, the first day of its extended run of 14 hours, from 6 am to 8 pm, the Monorail carried just 15,016 commuters, as compared to nearly 20,000 on its inaugural run on February 2. Though figures declined as days went by, the ridership was still between 13,000 and 14,000 by February end, even though it operated for only 8 hours, between 7 am and 3 pm, at that time.
However, with the first day figures of the extended run on April 15 far from encouraging, MMRDA officials are now blaming it on the vacations.
“With most of the exams over, there is the possibility of a number of families having left the city for vacations. This could be the reason for the reduced number of commuters,” said MMRDA Joint Project Director (PR) Dilip Kawathkar.
According to an official statement, on April 15 the highest number of footfalls - 5,329 - was recorded at Chembur Monorail Station, while 3,636 commuters boarded the train at Wadala. Figures for other stations were given as Bharat Petroleum (1,792), Fertilizer Township (1,471) and VNP & RC Marg Junction (1,056). Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony Stations, on the other hand, accounted for less than a thousand commuters each, with 957 and 775 respectively.
The total revenue of the day was Rs 1,32,368.
Transport expert Rishi Aggrawal said that the authorities have to get their priorities right. “Monorail and also the proposed Metro 3 corridor - from Colaba to Seepz at Andheri (E) - are not where the real need lies. The real requirement of a Metro lies between places such as Dahisar and Thane. Such corridors need to be looked into, as they will be of greater use to commuters,” he said.
A test ride by Mumbai Mirror last month, also found that there are coordination issues between various public utilities, leading to no integration of facilities and no feeder services, which is drastically affecting the Monorail.
Commuter Pradeep Das said, “The Monorail Wadala station, for example, is located at Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, while the actual Wadala locality is about 2 km away. At the Monorail Wadala station, there is no connectivity of other public transport modes, and as such few commuters want to get off there.”
However, MMRDA are optimistic of an appreciable increase in ridership once the entire project is complete. “The actually response should be far better once the entire stretch of the Mumbai Monorail is in operation between Chembur and Jacob Circle,” said an official who requested anonymity.
The Mumbai Monorail, which at present operates on an 8.8 km stretch between Chembur and Wadala, is to be extended to a 20-km corridor from Chembur to Jacob Circle by March 2015.
Two-and-a-half months on, the initial excitement generated by the Mumbai Monorail appears to be gradually on the wane.
On April 15, the first day of its extended run of 14 hours, from 6 am to 8 pm, the Monorail carried just 15,016 commuters, as compared to nearly 20,000 on its inaugural run on February 2. Though figures declined as days went by, the ridership was still between 13,000 and 14,000 by February end, even though it operated for only 8 hours, between 7 am and 3 pm, at that time.
A month ago, when figures plummeted, MMRDA officials had blamed students’ examinations for the decline, and were confident that the ridership would rise once exams were over.
However, with the first day figures of the extended run on April 15 far from encouraging, MMRDA officials are now blaming it on the vacations.
“With most of the exams over, there is the possibility of a number of families having left the city for vacations. This could be the reason for the reduced number of commuters,” said MMRDA Joint Project Director (PR) Dilip Kawathkar.
According to an official statement, on April 15 the highest number of footfalls - 5,329 - was recorded at Chembur Monorail Station, while 3,636 commuters boarded the train at Wadala. Figures for other stations were given as Bharat Petroleum (1,792), Fertilizer Township (1,471) and VNP & RC Marg Junction (1,056). Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony Stations, on the other hand, accounted for less than a thousand commuters each, with 957 and 775 respectively.
The total revenue of the day was Rs 1,32,368.
Transport expert Rishi Aggrawal said that the authorities have to get their priorities right. “Monorail and also the proposed Metro 3 corridor - from Colaba to Seepz at Andheri (E) - are not where the real need lies. The real requirement of a Metro lies between places such as Dahisar and Thane. Such corridors need to be looked into, as they will be of greater use to commuters,” he said.
A test ride by Mumbai Mirror last month, also found that there are coordination issues between various public utilities, leading to no integration of facilities and no feeder services, which is drastically affecting the Monorail.
Commuter Pradeep Das said, “The Monorail Wadala station, for example, is located at Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, while the actual Wadala locality is about 2 km away. At the Monorail Wadala station, there is no connectivity of other public transport modes, and as such few commuters want to get off there.”
However, MMRDA are optimistic of an appreciable increase in ridership once the entire project is complete. “The actually response should be far better once the entire stretch of the Mumbai Monorail is in operation between Chembur and Jacob Circle,” said an official who requested anonymity.
The Mumbai Monorail, which at present operates on an 8.8 km stretch between Chembur and Wadala, is to be extended to a 20-km corridor from Chembur to Jacob Circle by March 2015.
