Monorail planned from Goregaon to Mulund

The city’s first monorail from Jacob Circle to Wadala via Chembur will have a trial run on Republic Day; but the MMRDA has begun planning another monorail, along the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, to improve connectivity between the eastern and the western suburbs.

“We have asked consultants to study this route,” MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said. “These areas are important. A monorail would provide people with a better connectivity.”

LEA Associates will do a feasibility study. “They will study the number of passengers expected on this route,”  Gaikwad said. But there are some issues, he said. “The forest land is a missing link. We will have to get the Centre’s permission.” Also, the authorities will have to transplant trees that might be cut to some other location.

The consultants will study seven monorail corridors spanning across 100 km. The study will involve techno-economic feasibility and LEA Associates will submit a report in the next six months. The MMRDA has also asked the consultants to study the Hutatma Chowk-Ghatkopar-Mulund route as well. Both these routes are part of a master plan proposed for Mumbai and the rest of the metropolitan region.

The MMRDA also wants to extend the Rs3,750-crore Thane-Kalyan-Bhiwandi monorail up to Mira Road. An official said this was one of the most congested routes. At least 18,000 people are expected to travel every hour on this route, he said. The chief minister was briefed on this 30-km project when he visited the MMRDA headquarters on December 5.