Mumbai monorail a hit, 136,000 use it in a week

It is official. India's first monorail, which was started here on February 2, is a hit. The ticket sale in the first week itself crossed 100,000 and on the whole, the new mode of transport has run to its optimum best. A total of 136,865 passengers had travelled in the monorail till Sunday.

While the total token sale for the week was 132,523, total revenue for the week reached Rs 14,24,810. On Sunday, over 29,000 passengers travelled in the four-coach pink, blue and green monorail trains and the total collection was about Rs 3,00,000. All throughout the week, Mumbai's monorail made 512 trips. The Smart Card option is also getting popular by the day. So far, during the first week, more than 1,400 Smart Cards were sold.

The monorail runs between Wadala and Chembur in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai, covering seven stations - Wadala, Bhakti Park, Mysore Colony, Bharat Petroleum, Fertiliser Township, VNP-RC Marg Junction and Chembur corridor, covering the distance of 8.93 km.

"We at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority are extremely pleased with the response that the monorail has received in the first week. This goes to show that Mumbaikars do appreciate a more comfortable mode of transport," said Dilip Kawathkar, Joint Project Director (PR), MMRDA.

Mono Rail at a Glance: (From Feb 2, 2014 to Feb 8, 2014)

• Total Passengers: 1,36,865
• Total Revenue (In Rs ): 14, 24, 810
• Total Tokens sold: 1, 32, 523
• Total Smart Cards sold: 1409
• Total Sale (Token + Smart Cards) : 1,33, 932