Mumbai Monorail snippets

Mumbai is set to get bright new monorail trains in maroon, green and sky blue on the first route from Jacob Circle to Chembur. The trains, which will be assembled in Malaysia, will run along the route and are scheduled to have preliminary trial runs next year. The 2,460 crore project is being constructed by L&T and Scomi of Malaysia that will operate on a Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) model. According to MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, each colour represents an element of nature. “Maroon celebrates mother earth, green represents the environment and blue, the sky,’’ he added. The National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad had suggested the entire exterior and interior colour scheme of the monorail, he said. They also made recommendations about the interiors. The side panels will be white, the vertical and horizontal hand rails as well as handles will be of stainless steel. The seats will also be of stainless steel. The window glasses will have a green tint. Work on the Rs 2,460 crore monorail project is zooming ahead. There were some modifications to the 19 km-long route near Bhoiwada as the area was congested. “Unlike the Metro rail project, the monorail project is much smaller and its implementation will not mean large-scale dislocation of people and structures,’’ said joint project director of MMRDA, Dilip Kawathkar. “It is being planned to ensure that the needs of those who are not being served effectively by existing transport modes are met,’’ he said. Kawathkar said that the monorail route will supplement the suburban rail and the new Metro rail network. The route will be chalked out in coordination with the BEST.