KOCHI: Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is keen on the metro’s 14-km-long Angamaly extension, while reports of extending it up to Thrissur are far fetched.
The ₹3,115-crore Angamaly extension will be taken up after the extensions to Thripunithura and Kakkanad are over. The metro can branch out up to the international airport from the proposed Angamaly extension, if Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is willing to share a portion of the ₹822-crore estimated cost of the 5-km-long extension from Athani. Land acquisition will be minimal since the widened airport-link road has a wide median where metro pillars can come up, sources in the metro agency said.
Metro officials had earlier spoken of how a tram service can link the metro with the airport, at one-third the cost of a metro-rail system. A KMRL spokesperson said the airport extension would entail changes in the design of metro coaches, since luggage space would have to be hewed out in each coach. “Most international travellers prefer to travel by car to the airport as they carry heavy luggage. Moreover, family members will accompany them to see them off,” she added.
Extending the metro to Thrissur is not feasible now, since the average cost per km of the metro rail system works out to as high as ₹220 crore. “But we are serious about the Angamaly extension and will pursue it once the Centre accords sanction for the Kakkanad extension,” KMRL sources said.
The agency has mooted 11 stations in the 14-km-long extension. A total of 6.5 hectares will be required, mainly for constructing entry/exit at stations, parking, and commercial space. The extension is further expected to ensure sound patronage for the metro, since thousands of people commute from Angamaly to the city daily by road and rail.
