Mumbai's monorail line resumes services

According to a report by PTI, services on the 20-km monorail line in the financial capital resumed on Sunday, after nearly seven months of closure following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The single line, which had been struggling with ridership numbers before the pandemic as well, witnessed low patronage which can also be attributed to it being a weekend.

Services on the line, which extends from Chembur to Lacob Circle at Mahalaxmi, were carried out in two phases – one each in the morning and evening bands with additional COVID-19 related precautions like social distancing and regular cleaning.

"We have developed internal SOP. 'No mask-no entry' is being followed. Services will continue from 7:03-11:40 am and 4:03-9:24 pm," Rohan Salukhe, a senior official of the services said. "We thank Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for resuming the Monorail services. We would also request CM to resume local train services here which is Mumbai's lifeline, while taking all the safety precautions," he added.

The Monorail services have started a day ahead of resumption of more popular Metro services on the 11-km Ghatkopar-Versova route.

With 1,85,750 total active cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state by COVID-19 in the country. While 13,58,606 patients have recovered from the disease in the state, 41,965 have died so far.