Power snag halts Mumbai Monorail in its tracks; 38 stranded

A power snag halted a Wadala-bound monorail between the Mysore Colony and Bharat Petroleum stations in Chembur on Monday morning. Fire brigade officials said 38 commuters were rescued near Koyna Colony after being stranded there. No injuries were reported.

According to officials, the monorail came to a stop at 10.15am after losing traction power supply owing to a broken power rail insulator.

As a result, services on Phase 1 between Chembur and Wadala were shut for more than 11 hours, before eventually resuming at 9.33pm. Earlier in the day, Mumbai Monorail had expressed regret for the snag.

“Trains are operational between Wadala and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk with 23 minutes frequency. We truly regret the incident and we are working towards rectifying the issue,” read Mumbai Monorail’s tweet.

The technical snag saw commuters lashing out on Monday. Anil Tanwade tweeted, “Frequent failures in monorail is such a pathetic experience. It spoils your morning start. It failed again today. Waste of time.”

Another commuter, Ritika, tweeted, “And today again it is stuck between Bharat Petroleum and Mysore Colony. When will technical safety and quality be ensured?”After a fire damaged two rakes of a monorail in November 2017, the services were suspended for almost a year.

First Published: Sep 24, 2019 00:21 IST