Mumbai has become the first Indian city to get a monorail. The 8.8 km monorail line that connects Wadala in central Mumbai with Chembur in suburban Mumbai has come six years after the idea was first put forth. However, a simple Twitter post has opened up a public debate on how effecient the monorail is going to be as a mass mode of transport in Mumbai.
A sum of ₹1,100 crore has been spent so far on India's first monorail but will it really address the daily travel needs of a city that boasts of over 12 million population.
Each monrail train has four coaches with a carrying capacity of about 560 people. In contrast, the Mumbai suburban train, which has the capacity to carry 1,500 people, eventually carries 8,500. And official figures note that the Mumbai suburban railway handles 7.24 million passenger traffic daily.
The Twitter post shows an overcrowded monorail, and with no space left, hundreds of passengers have climbed up on top of the coaches. The Twitter meme, in a way, is a real picture of what often happens in India, especially on train routes bound towards the countryside. Such over-crowding instances have also been seen on Mumbai suburban railways.
Mumbai Monorail after 2-months. #NationWantsToKnow pic.twitter.com/y7qtY4YsX8
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) February 3, 2014
Overcrowding in Indian trains
The overcrowding in monorail gains interest mainly because in Mumbai suburban trains, the present reality is such that tourists are advised against travelling by trains due to the heavy rush in evenings. The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the second busiest rapid transit system in the world with an annual ridership of 2.64 billion, and hence it faces the most severe overcrowding in the world.
Here are some pictures of overcrowding in Indian trains:
Twitter reactions to monorail overcrowding
Sigh. Mumbai infrastructure win as always. Article on the monorail station. That last line. #Facepalm pic.twitter.com/DWEkRNXPzl — Rohan Joshi (@mojorojo) February 4, 2014
#dnaPicture: A serpentine queue of people eager to ride on the newly opened monorail.For more: http://t.co/7ZviO6Uizw pic.twitter.com/i6i6t2zuT5
— dna (@dna) February 4, 2014
They built a beautiful ₹3,000 cr Monorail, but forgot to install vending machines that identify new ₹1 coins http://t.co/SBAK15OPDP — Sachin Kalbag (@SachinKalbag) February 3, 2014
20,000 people line up on day 1. Monorail is the new Starbucks. http://t.co/kQ4hj7GdG6
— Gabbar Singh (@GabbbarSingh) February 3, 2014
Why Mumbai new monorail seems to be built for real-estate developers rather than commuters. http://t.co/0DArIZIQFk — naresh fernandes (@tajmahalfoxtrot) February 1, 2014