The daily passenger patronage in Kochi metro is nearing the 1-lakh mark, thanks to commuters preferring to travel in air-conditioned comfort during the unusually sultry weather.
The availability of discounted daily passes, including for students, is being cited as among the reasons. Official sources said that a total of 99,181 passengers travelled in metro trains in the 28-km Aluva-Thripunithura corridor on Saturday (May 4). “The daily patronage is in the range of 91,000-93,000 (during weekdays), while it crossed 98,000 on Friday. It would cross the 1-lakh mark if the trend continued.”
The patronage during morning and evening hours continues to hover higher than normal, while it is more or less the same at noon as during the past month. This is probably because a good share of people prefer to remain home during noon time due to the simmering heat, they added.
Critics have been pointing out how many more commuters would have travelled in the metro, but for the inordinate delay in rolling out the promised fleet of feeder e-buses. This is because feeder buses hold the key to usher in first and last-mile connectivity in all metro-rail systems that are confined to arterial roads.
Seven years after the metro was commissioned in 2017, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) had earlier this year placed orders for a dedicated fleet of 15 air-conditioned, 32-seat e-buses to operate services from June, linking metro stations with locales in the suburbs and also with other transit hubs within the city. These made-to-order e-buses are expected to lessen commuters’ reliance on private vehicles to reach the 25 stations in the Aluva-Thripunithura metro corridor.
Water Metro
The patronage in Water Metro ferries too is steadily increasing due to the inclement weather, summer vacation when families opt for backwater cruises and also after ferries began to operate in the High Court-Fort Kochi corridor from April 21. While the Water Metro’s Fort Kochi terminal is located at the beachfront, that of the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) is located a kilometre away from the beach and the heritage town. This and the fact that Water Metro ferries are air-conditioned too are being attributed as a reason for tourists and commuters opting to travel in the Water Metro, despite the higher fare.
SWTD sources said that they had decided to operate Vega-120, a partly-air-conditioned fast ferry that operated in the Ernakulam-Fort Kochi corridor, as a tourist vessel from later this month.
