After 20 minutes of waiting in a ticket queue to take a ride in the Mumbai Monorail, an elderly man starts to get impatient. He animatedly narrates woes about the traffic congestion and noise pollution that he has had to brave since the mammoth project started in 2009. But today, all is forgiven. He cut short his Sunday morning walk to experience the country’s first monorail in the eastern fringes of Mumbai, connecting the areas of Wadala to Chembur. His wife couldn’t make it in time, but he has promised to give her a live commentary over the phone once he steps into the train. “I’ve never travelled outside the country. I’ve only heard about monorails elsewhere in the world from my children. I’m so proud that it has come to my city,” he says, stopping to congratulate the monorail officials in his vicinity.

With every passing minute, there is a new addition to the serpentine queue. Some auto drivers have abandoned their rickshaws, shopkeepers have pulled down shutters and parents have dragged their groggy children out of bed to witness this spectacle. Families of 10 have arrived with cameras in hand, documenting every step, from the time they purchase their first ticket. When they spot a ticket vending machine, which is not yet operational, they arrange themselves around it, according to seniority for a family picture. A group of youngsters, who’ve trekked all the way from the city’s western suburbs to pay their respects, are more reserved with their praise. “This is nice. But we are waiting for the Metro. That will be more useful to us,” says one of the young sceptics.

Raman Unny, a resident of Wadala, was beginning to believe that the project would never see the light of day. Every time the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) defaulted on their deadlines, his hopes dwindled. Now impressed with reports of the project being second only to Japan’s Osaka monorail corridor, which has been around since 1990, he is convinced that the two-year delay must have been for good reason. This is the first of the five proposed monorail lines planned across the city to control traffic congestion and ease the load of the local trains, the primary mode of travel for most Mumbaikars. When complete, the line will stretch 11km to Jacob Circle, near Mahalaxmi. If all goes on schedule, this will take another year.

The crowd is in a thrall about this new mode of transport. Instead of the plain chit of paper they’re used to receiving as tickets, it’s a royal blue coin with the monorail engraved on it. Children have already taken a fancy to it, spinning it like a top on the counter, much to the annoyance of the ticket-seller. Helpers guide families through this adventure, leading them to the metal detectors and baggage scanners. The train is already 20 minutes late. But no one is cribbing. The crowd breaks into applause as they sight the bubble gum-pink train bedecked with a string of marigold flowers. Chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Mourya’ fill the platform. In a matter of seconds, the area falls silent as the train whizzes past filled with delirious passengers.

Inside, the compartments that have been designed by Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design are sleek and trendy. It’s a welcome change from the filthy paan-stained floors and walls of local trains that are defaced with advertisements that claim to cure everything from back pain to marital strife.

Also, instead of having to hang out of the cramped compartment to take in a breath of fresh air, commuters can delight in the cool breeze of the air conditioner. However, these benefits can be enjoyed only by a fraction of Mumbai’s commuters travelling on this line. As opposed to the much larger local trains that ferry almost 6,000 passengers at a time, this new train can only hold a measly 560 people in its four coaches, questioning how effective it will prove to be in solving the city’s traffic woes.

“Ooooh” scream the unsuspecting passengers each time the train gingerly manoeuvres around bends or jerks to a halt. Its 9km long route runs above some of the most narrow and congested lanes of the city, making it a particularly challenging project for Larson and Toubro and Scomi International of Malaysia. Relocating nearly 300 families that resided along these bylanes contributed to the delay in the launch, as did the concerns of the Ministry of Forests over the mangrove forests.

While the ride opens with an aerial view of vast stretches of mangroves and a cricket match on a green plot of land, it slowly creeps past a cluster of slums and building societies and you can literally peek into dining rooms of flats located on the top floors.

As expected, there are a fair number of first-day glitches. One of the trains stops midway, forcing commuters to disembark. No exlanations are offered for the lapse. But Mumbaikars are not complaining. At least not on the first day. If officials at Central Railways are to be believed, this euphoria will last only a few days before commuters are forced to return to the good old local trains that offer better connectivity and serve more people.

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