A turquoise blue Kochi metro train zoomed along the 13-km-long Palarivattom-Aluva elevated corridor on Saturday morning, carrying among others Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, metro officials and a media contingent.
It was a new experience for the passengers, most of whom were travelling in a metro for the first time. The Palarivattom-Aluva stretch was covered in just over 20 minutes. Even ambulances with sirens cannot commute so fast through National Highway 47 that runs beneath the metro viaduct, given the congested junctions at Edappally, Edappally Toll, Cusat, Kalamassery, Pulinchodu and Aluva town.
“The train cruises at 70 km per hour speed on the viaduct, though it can attain up to 80 km,” said Gopika Santosh, a driver who travelled as a passenger.
It was exhilarating to view the city of Kochi, with its green cover and many landmark buildings, pass by from a height of over eight metres from the road level. On either side of the barricaded metro viaduct is a rescue ramp that will be used to evacuate commuters from trains stuck on the viaduct. They can walk through it to reach the nearest station, keeping away from the 750-volt third track that supplies power to the trains.
Four of the 23 persons from the transgender community, who have been appointed for housekeeping duty at metro stations (a first for any government firm in the country), workers from Kudumbasree and a few metro workers also travelled on the train.
Tusker-shaped facade
As the train halted at Aluva, Mr. Vijayan walked into the driver’s cabin, where Anju J.H., who steered the train, explained its salient features. She is among the seven women drivers-cum-station controllers of the Kochi metro.
The train’s facade resembles a tusker, with the headlight cluster shaped like a pair of tusks. “They are arguably the most modern in the country, but came cheaper than coaches of other metros, with the capability to be converted into driverless trains in the future,” said Elias George, Managing Director of Kochi Metro Rail Limited.
