The Kochi Metro Rail will begin commercial operation on November 1, Kerala Formation Day, since both the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Kochi Metro Rail Limited are confident of completing all works and obtaining mandatory clearances by that time, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.
Speaking at the function to flag off test runs of the first three-coach metro train at the Muttom coach depot on Saturday, he reiterated the promise made on June 7, 2013 that the project would be completed in 1,095 days. “Today is the 958th day and there are 137 days left for works to get over. This much could be achieved thanks to the personal involvement of India’s metro man, E. Sreedharan. Every effort will be made to commission the project on Kerala Day, though June 2017 is the deadline as per the agreement,” Mr. Chandy said. Mr. Sreedharan lauded the efforts made by the DMRC to begin the test run within 2.6 years after commencing the work. The trial runs on the metro viaduct would begin in February and would be extended up to the Maharaja’s Ground in June, he said.
Earlier, he broke a coconut on the track as puja was done prior to the flag-off function.
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DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh said India is emerging as a builder of metro coaches with French firm Alstom, which would supply total 75 coaches to Kochi Metro, being the latest entrant.
KMRL Managing Director Elias George said the metro would ensure a safe, pollution-free and clean mode of transport. “Other modes of public transport will be modernised and integrated with the metro as part of the Unified Metropolitan Transportation Authority – Kochi,” he said.
Referring to light metros for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju said that the DMRC would carry out all preparatory works.
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Speakers at the function highlighted the key role played by migrant workers in completing the project’s civil and related works in a systematic manner.