The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has constituted a task force to probe the feasibility of establishing a metro-rail station in the Vyttila mobility hub.
This would enable sharing of common amenities at the hub like parking, bathrooms, pre-paid auto/taxi services etc., as compared to having a metro station outside the hub. The patronage for the metro rail is expected to increase if commuters who arrive at the hub from the suburbs and nearby districts depend on it to travel to the city.
By including the metro-rail, the aim is to make the hub a focal point in the city where road, metro-rail and waterway transport converge. The MPs from the district and the Vytilla Mobility Hub Society have demanded a railway halt station at Ponnurunni, a stone's throw away from the hub. This would ensure rail connectivity too for the hub.
Sources in the KMRL said that the task force would comprise the KMRL's superintending engineer Chandrababu and officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Kitco (the consultants for the hub) and the NHAI. The KMRL's MD Tom Jose has sought the feasibility report in two weeks' time.
The proposal to have the metro-rail station in the hub comes in the wake of a suggestion by Susan Zielinski, an expert on sustainable transportation systems from the University of Michigan. Having played a key role in suggesting a mobility hub at Vytilla a few years ago, she suggested that the inter-modal hub have all possible modes of transport.
The Union Urban Development Ministry too had been suggesting seamless integration of different modes of transport, so that commuters have many modes to choose from. Those who participated in the coordination commitee meeting to discuss the issue included Mr Jose, the DMRC's Kochi project director P Sriram,e MD of Vytilla Mobility Hub Society M. Beena, NHAI's Kochi project director C. T. Abraham and Rakesh from KITCO.
