If everything goes according to plan, Kochi Metro’s eagerly-awaited Maharaja’s College-Thykoodam extension will be commissioned in the first week of September by Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.
The metro could begin commercial operation in the 5.5-km-long corridor on September 3, coinciding with the Onam season, provided the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) issues the safety certificate. The CMRS inspection was expected in the coming week, said Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) sources.
The daily patronage for the mass rapid transport system (MRTS) hovers at an average of 40,000, two years since its launch in June 2017. Its link with the rail network at Ernakulam Junction railway station and with buses and passenger ferries at Vyttila Mobility Hub, are expected to boost footfall.
The demand is rife that the KMRL initiate proactive steps to lessen the metro’s operational loss of approximately ₹10 lakh per day. Public transportation experts have warned that the cash-strapped State government will have to raise huge funds to keep the metro afloat, unless something drastic is done to considerably increase its passenger patronage.
In a memorandum forwarded to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, city-based NGO Greater Cochin Development Watch (GCDW) demanded a special fare of ₹10 between Ernakulam Junction metro station and Vyttila Mobility Hub station. “This will tremendously benefit commuters, while at the same time boost the metro’s patronage,” said GCDW general secretary George Kattunilath.
“The two metro stations will be very important points of passenger interchange from the metro to other commuting modes and back. The fare will be over ₹15 in the normal course. I have sought the Chief Minister’s intervention to fix a special fare of ₹10 between the two stations, considering all the four stations in the stretch as a single block,” said Ebenser Chullikatt, a votary of public transport, who has written to the Chief Minister in this regard.
A KMRL spokesperson said talks were under way to roll out schemes to increase footfall.
“We have not zeroed in on anything. We foresee an increase in patronage since the impending extension will link Ernakulam Junction and Town railway stations, while touching at Vyttila Hub,” he said.
