The city of Bombay is currently building its first monorail network. The 20-km track is scheduled to be put into service in June 2011. For the first 15 trains, Voith Turbo Scharfenberg will deliver 30 vehicle heads equipped with advanced crash management systems. As soon as February 2010, the first train will launch its test phase. Thus, Voith plans to deliver the first modules in August 2009. These mostly pre-assembled fibre composite modules are manufactured entirely at Voith Turbo Scharfenberg’s site in Salzgitter, Germany. In addition to the extendable automatic couplers in the vehicle heads, the delivery will include 45 semi-permanent couplers for interconnection of the four-unit trains.
The new monorail network is expected to carry 300,000 commuters every day. India’s public transport politicians, however, want more: Within one hour, all destinations in the megacity Bombay shall be reached. To realise this ambitious goal, it is planned to build 15 monorail lines with a total track length of about 100km – enough capacity for 2.2 million passengers.
The first 20km section of the monorail network will link the south of Bombay with the eastern suburbs (Jacob Circle – Wadala – Cembur). 18 stops will be set up along this track. The trains will arrive every six to nine minutes. Every four-unit train can carry up to 600 passengers per ride.
The regional transport authority of Bombay has commissioned Malayan Scomi group with the construction and operation of India’s first monorail network. Scomi already operates an 8.6km long monorail system in Kuala Lumpur. In Bombay, Scomi will deploy the new Scomi Urban Transit Rail Application (Sutra) monorail variant.