Mumbai will soon have its first monorail which will connect with the central, western railways and the harbor line.

The Sant Gadje Maharaj Chowk- Wadala - Chembur track of the monorail will connect with the local railway stations at Mahalaxmi on western railways, Curry Road and Parel on central railways and Wadala Road station and GTB Nagar on harbour line.

At a distance of 11.28 kms, the Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk to Wadala, which is section one, the monorail will cover 10 stations and seven stations from Wadala to Chembur, the second section, in 8.26 kms. The designed speed of monorail is 80kmph. Its overall speed including dwell time at stations would be around 31 kmph. The monorail will operate from 5 am to midnight.

According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) joint project director (PR) Dilip Kawathkar, “There is absence of effective mass transport system on these routes. Travel time on section one will be 25 minutes and 19 minutes on section two.”

By 2016, peak hour per direction traffic (PHPDT) is estimated to be around 7,500 and total corridor ridership per day around 1.25 lakh. The master plan of monorail for MMR has been prepared by Lea Associates South Asia Private Limited  after projections of travel demands in the years 2021 and 2031 after considering future commercial and business centers, region’s potential for redevelopment developing growth centre’s and travel habits.

The company has suggested monorail network of approximately 135 kms from the year 2011 to 2031 at the cost of 20,000 crore in phases.

The monorail will be operational on seven corridors: Mulund – Borivali (30 kms), Virar Railway Station – Chikhaldongri Rental Housing Scheme (4.6 kms), Lokhandwala – Seepz - Kanjurmarg (13.14 kms), Thane/Naupada - Bivandi- Kalyan (25 kms), Kalyan – Ulhasnagar - Dombivali (26.4 kms), Ghatkopar - Koparkhairane (15.72 kms) and Mhape – Shil Phata – Kalyan (21.1 kms).