While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Kochi metro here on Saturday, Union Urban Development Minister Venkiah Naidu will release Kochi-1, the pre-paid smart card which can be used to travel in the metro, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the app having the same name at the same venue.
The Prime Minister will travel in Kochi Metro’s Palarivattom-Pathadipalam corridor and back between 10.35 a.m. and 10.50 a.m., prior to inaugurating the system of mass rapid transport at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kaloor on the day.
Similar to debit cards
The card can be used for cashless travel in trains, and also for commercial transactions just like regular debit cards. The app would be activated a few days after the launch, said Elias George, Managing Director of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).
The card can be purchased from metro stations by providing minimum know your customer (KYC) details like phone number and date of birth. Commuters can do transactions up to ₹10,000 every month by using the card. They can do transactions of up to ₹1 lakh per month if they submit ID proof.
A sum of ₹150 will be charged as issuance fee, while the first top-up will be for ₹200. Subsequent top-ups can be done from ₹100 and upwards. The metro agency would shortly open kiosks at select locations to popularise the card, sources said.
People who do not travel frequently in the metro can purchase tickets from counters manned by Kudumbasree workers at each station.
Attention invitees!
In the meantime, the KMRL has issued a press release saying that the 3,500-odd invitees for the metro’s inaugural event must be seated before 10 a.m. at the stadium at Kaloor, the venue. They must carry their ID proofs and invitation card too.
No personal baggages, mobile phone, water or eatables will be allowed inside the venue. Water will be available in the venue for the audience.
‘Snehayathra’
The metro agency on Sunday will organise a ‘Snehayathra’ for people from neglected sections of society, before the metro is opened to members of the public. Children and others living in orphanages, old-age homes, etc., which are recognised by Social Welfare Department and located within the jurisdiction of the Kochi Corporation, Aluva and Kalamassery municipalities and Choornikkara panchayat, can travel in the metro.
Interested institutions must e-mail applications to augustine.aj@kmrl.co.in or call 9446364806 before 2 p.m. on Thursday.
