By Manjiri Joshi,News18
Copyright news18
Mumbai Monorail brought in the Monday morning blues for travellers, as a train came to an abrupt halt on tracks due to a “technical fault” on Monday morning, following which 17 passengers onboard were rescued, officials said.
The incident took place between the Antop Hill Bus Depot and GTBN monorail station in Wadala, PTI reported. The incident was reported at 7.16 am due to some “technical fault”, PTI quoted a civic official as saying, as per the information received from the Mumbai police control room. The stranded passengers were rescued after about 45 minutes. All the passengers were safe and shifted to another monorail train, the official said.
“The train heading to Wadala halted. The passengers were transferred to the train coming from Chembur. Fire Brigade came later and started their operation. Monorail officials are saying that it was a supply issue…I urge the government to resolve this recurring issue,” Rajesh Ananda Bhojane, Ward Councillor of Ward 175, Republican Party of India (Athawale), told ANI.
#WATCH | “…The train heading to Wadala halted. The passengers were transferred to the train coming from Chembur. Fire Brigade came later and started their operation. Monorail officials are saying that it was a supply issue…I urge the Govt to resolve this recurring issue..,”… https://t.co/tjpKvTMUA4 pic.twitter.com/2xLkZ1FxDz
— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2025
Mumbai monorail glitch: Not the first time
Two monorail trains were stalled between stations — Mysore Colony-Bhakti Park, and Wadala-Acharya Atre — during heavy rain on August 19. Around 782 passengers were stranded, as AC and lights went off. Power supply failure and overcrowding were cited as causes. A preliminary probe revealed that overcrowding had pushed the total train weight to 109 metric tonnes — exceeding the designed capacity of 104 metric tonnes. The overload disrupted the mechanical contact between the power rail and current collector, cutting off electricity and stopping the train.
On April 16 last year, a guiding wheel tyre burst on the Chembur-Wadala route. Services were disrupted for three hours and passengers had to disembarked for wheel replacement near Bhakti Park.
Mumbai monorail: The troubles and challenges
The Mumbai monorail runs east to west and north to south, primarily through central and eastern Mumbai. Its key stations are Chembur, Wadala, Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi and Jacob Circle.
It was designed to ease congestion on roads and railways and reach narrow, congested areas where Metro lines aren’t feasible. It was meant to act as a feeder service to Mumbai Suburban Rail and Metro.
The first monorail system of India continues to face several issues:
1. Prominent among them is the lower than expected ridership. It was expected to serve three lakh commuters a day, compared to the 15,000-20,000 it actually serves.
2. Another problem has been recurring technical issues such as frequent power failures, maintenance backlogs, train stalls.
3. It has failed to integrate well with other transport systems such as Mumbai Metros or major railway hubs.
4. The monorail has proved to be an expensive project costing Rs 3,000+ crore, but the use remaining limited and maintenance costs high.
Why Mumbai monorail is not as efficient as Mumbai Metro? Why does it face recurring issues?
Among the common reasons for glitches on Mumbai monorail are overloading, which happens as trains are shut during the rain. Limited fleet poses another problem in the operations, according to various media reports.
Compared to Mumbai Metro, the monorail relies on older technology, which makes maintenance or even finding spare parts tough. There have been instances where tyres or guiding wheels have failed, leading to stoppage.
Several reports have pointed out how the repairs are delayed at times owing to limited fleet, lack of technical expertise or even how the monorail infrastructure isn’t robust enough for Mumbai’s severe climate and load demands.
With PTI, Agency inputs
