New Delhi, Feb 6 – Scomi Engineering Bhd’s Mumbai Monorail, the first in India, has opened to the public, elevating the financial capital’s transportation system a notch above the rest.
“It is a very proud moment for us as we witnessed the successful commissioning of the Mumbai Monorail project,” its chief executive officer, Kanesan Velupillai said.
He said with the significant milestone, Scomi had set new standards in monorail transport systems and established new milestones in urban transportation systems.
The first phase, an 8.9-km section from Wadala to Chembur, was inaugurated by Maharashtra State’s Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, and Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, on Feb 1, 2014, said a statement from Scomi.
Since its public debut on Feb 2, 2014, the Mumbai Monorail received overwhelming response, transporting approximately 40,000 passengers during the first two days of its operation.
The public support and interest augurs well for the development of modern public transportation in Mumbai.
The public has welcomed the new system with much enthusiasm and the demand is expected to grow over the next few months.
“We embarked on this journey of building India’s first monorail system in 2009 and after the relentless work put together by the Scomi team in India and Malaysia along with other stakeholders, we are very pleased to witness the successful launch of the monorail service,” he said.
In addition, Scomi is also proud to be venturing into the new scope of operations and maintenance.
Scomi has emerged with a proven track record as an integrated solutions provider to design, build, test, commission, operate and maintain monorail and rail systems.
“Being India’s first monorail project, we also believe that this project will pave the way for many more monorail projects in India in order to cater to the country’s fast-growing infrastructural requirements,” said Kanesan.
The other cities currently pursuing the monorail system are in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Scomi secured the Mumbai Monorail project valued at RM1.8 billion back in November 2008.
Earlier in January 2014, Scomi also delivered the first four-car train set for the Kuala Lumpur monorail fleet expansion project.
Under the RM494 million project, Scomi will supply a total of 12 sets of four-car trains and a new depot, upgrading of stations, signalling, power supply and other rail systems.
– Bernama
