Mumbai Monorail

The Mumbai Monorail is a monorail system currently under construction for the city of Mumbai, India. The project is being implemented by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA, with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and a consortium of Malaysian infrastructure Scomi Engineering. It will be the first monorail in India.[4][5] Construction began in January 2009.[6] The first line is scheduled to be commissioned in April 2013.[7]

History

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, cleared the notification for construction of the first monorail system in India on August 13, 2008. The system will traverse through Jacob Circle, Wadala, Mahul and Chembur, paving the way for a feeder service to the existing suburban railway network[8] The two shortlisted consortia to build the line were Bombardier Transportation, Reliance Energy in association with Hitachi Monorail, and Larsen and Toubro with Scomi Rail of Malaysia. On November 11, 2008, the winner was announced to be Larsen and Toubro along with Scomi, who received a [pic]2,460 crore (US$447.72 million) contract to build and operate the monorail until 2029.[9] Construction of Mumbai Monorail started in January 2009 along the Chembur – Wadala – Jacob Circle route[10] and was scheduled to be completed in April 2011.[11] Due to delays, the first portion of the line, between Chembur and Wadala, is now expected to be operational in January 2013.

The second portion, from Jacob Circle to Wadala, is expected to be ready by December 2013.[12] A 108-meter test run was successfully conducted on January 26, 2010.[13] The monorail had its first test run on 18 February 2012 from its yard in Wadala to a station at Bhakti Park, a distance of around a kilometre. Scomi, the Malaysian company that supplied the rakes for the project, was in charge of the trial. The MMRDA will decide whether the Singapore-based SMRT or the Hong Kong-based Mass Transit Rail will be given the task of certifying the monorail system. This is because the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) had said it didn’t have the capacity to certify the monorail, as it was a different system from the railways. The electrical workings of the monorail will be certified by the Electrical Inspector General.[14]

Bandra–Worli Sea Link

The Bandra–Worli Sea Link (BWSL), officially called Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete-steel viaducts on either side that links Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai.[1] The bridge is a part of the proposed Western Freeway that will link the Western Suburbs to Nariman Point in Mumbai’s main business district. The [pic]16 billion (US$291.2 million) bridge was commissioned by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), and built by the Hindustan Construction Company. The first four of the eight lanes of the bridge were opened to the public on 30 June 2009.[9] All eight lanes were opened on 24 March 2010. BWSL reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli during peak hours from 60–90 minutes to 20–30 minutes.[10] As of October 2009, BWSL had an average daily traffic of around 37,500 vehicles.[11]

Planning

The overall project consisted of five parts, contracted separately to accelerate the overall schedule. • Package I: Construction of a flyover over Love Grove junction in Worli • Package II: Construction of a cloverleaf interchange at the intersection of the Western Express Highway and S.V. Road in Bandra • Package III: Construction of solid approach road from the interchange to the Toll Plaza on the Bandra side along with a public promenade • Package IV: Construction of the central cable-stayed spans with northern and southern viaducts from Worli to the Toll Plaza at the Bandra end • Package V: Improvements to Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road Package IV was the main phase, with the other packages providing supporting infrastructure.