The Kochi Water Metro service, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, saw a massive ridership of over 6,500 passengers on its debut day. ‘On the first day of its commercial operations, Kochi Water Metro ran boats between the Kerala High Court and Vypin terminals from 7 am onwards and saw a ridership of 6,559 passengers,’ Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) said in a statement. The service on a single route witnessed an ‘overwhelming’ response, exceeding expectations.
On Thursday, commercial operations would commence on the second route from Vytilla to Kakkanad. The Kochi Water Metro is expected to ferry 34,000 passengers every day when fully operational. The vessels and terminals are disabled-friendly, equipped with life-saving equipment and technology to prevent overcrowding. The eco-friendly vessels can ferry up to 100 people each across the proposed 76-km-long routes at a speed of eight to ten knots.
The flagship water metro project of the Left front government, set up at a cost of Rs 1,136.83 crore in the port city, will connect 10 islands using 78 electric boats and 38 terminals, once fully operational. Initially, 15 electric air-conditioned catamaran boats will ferry city residents across eight water routes, with 15 proposed water routes. The boat also won the Gussies International Electric Boat Awards, 2022.
According to KWML, boats were operated every 15 minutes till 8 pm on the High Court-Vypin route from both terminals. The estimated travel time from the Vyttila water metro terminal to the Kakkanad terminal is around 25 minutes. To ensure last-mile connectivity, feeder buses and autos have been arranged from Kakkanad Water Metro Terminal to Infopark. The ticket rate for the High Court-Vypin route is Rs 20, and the ticket rate for the Vytilla-Kakkanad route is Rs 30.
A group of differently-abled children enjoyed the inaugural trip of the water metro service. The KWML statement said the country’s first Water Metro service will provide safe, affordable, and pocket-friendly travel for people in and around Kochi and also tourists from across the world.
The Kochi Water Metro service is fully funded by the Kerala government and KfW, a German funding agency. The integrated ticketing system allows passengers seamless travel on water metro and metro rail using the Kochi One card. For the future, KMRL plans to make the smart card usable for travel on feeder buses and auto-rickshaws. The terminals are built with state-of-the-art facilities, and the jetties have floating pontoons with automatic docking system technology. The panoramic windows of the vessels provide a visual treat of the scenic backwaters of Kochi.
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