Mumbai: The city’s troubled monorail service suffered yet another disruption Monday morning when a train developed a technical snag near Wadala, forcing an emergency evacuation of 17 passengers.Services between Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk and Wadala were operated on a single line for more than two hours, leading to bunching up of rakes, though operations on the Wadala-Chembur section remained unaffected. Officials said the incident occurred around 7.15am when a train stalled between Antop Hill Bus Depot and GTBN stations due to a software-related issue. MMRDA alerted the fire brigade, but evacuation was completed before their arrival.A Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) spokesperson said, “A rescue rake was placed parallel to the stranded train on the adjoining track, and passengers were carefully shifted before being taken to the next station by 7.40am.” The faulty rake was later towed to the depot for inspection.Commuters expressed anger at the repeated breakdowns. “Every few weeks there is some snag or the other. We never know if the train will reach on time. MMRDA treats passengers like guinea pigs,” said Ramesh Shinde, a regular user from Wadala. Anita Desai of Chembur added, “After spending over Rs 3,000 crore, the system still breaks down like a toy train. Instead of excuses, MMRDA should either fix it permanently or shut it down.“Monday’s snag came weeks after two major breakdowns on Aug 19. On Tuesday evening, two separate failures left hundreds of passengers stranded. In the first incident, a monorail halted between Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony at 6.38pm due to a power cut. The rake weighed 109 tonne—four tonne more than the limit—and passengers complained of suffocation as ventilation failed.A total of 582 people were evacuated after a nearly three-hour rescue operation involving the fire brigade, police, and disaster teams. A 20-year-old woman was taken to Sion Hospital with anxiety, while two others were treated for suffocation at KEM Hospital. In the second incident, another train stalled between Acharya Atre and Wadala stations at 7.33pm. It was later towed to Wadala after power was restored, and around 200 passengers were deboarded safely.The failure prompted MMRDA to suspend two senior officials — Manish Soni, chief engineer (signal and telecom), and Rajiv Gite, manager (security) — for lapses in operational protocols. The MMRDA has also constituted a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the incident and recommend corrective measures to strengthen operational safety and reliability.The panel is chaired by additional metropolitan commissioner Vikram Kumar and includes Prof Himanshu Bahirat from IIT-Bombay, Geetha Pillai, chief transport planner at Cidco, and Astik Pandey, joint metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA. Under revised SOPs, station staff will now strictly regulate entry to keep trains within the 104-tonne capacity. Each rake will carry a security guard to monitor crowding and a technician to handle glitches on the spot. Ventilation windows are being inspected and labelled for emergencies, while new safety signages will guide commuters to exits. The director (maintenance) has been tasked with conducting a detailed inspection of the fleet to ensure compliance with all measures.
