PM Modi to Inaugurate Kochi Metro’s Line-1 on June 17
After receiving a confirmation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) has announced that it will inaugurate commercial services on the 13 km Aluva – Palarivattom section of the 27 km Line-1 on June 17 (Saturday). A detailed programme has not been released yet, but the event is planned to take place at the line’s Muttom Depot.
This will be India’s 8th metro system to go live and the 1st to feature advanced CBTC signalling. The project’s foundation stone was laid by the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on September 13 2012 with construction work starting on June 7 2013 by Larsen & Toubro for both civil packages of this section.
KMRL initially started trial runs on on Line-1 between Muttom Depot and Kalamassery Station in early March 2016, then extended them southward to Edapally Station in late March 2016, then to Palarivattom Station in September 2016 and finally to Aluva in January 2017. Along the way, the KMRL received RDSO’s speed certificate in December 2016 and the Independent Safety Assessor’s (ISA) certificate for the signalling system in mid-April 2017. The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) conducted a 3-day visual inspection of the line between May 3-5 and approved the line shortly after.
KMRL released the line’s fare chart in November 2016 and initially plans to deploy nine 3-coach Alstom trains which were manufactured at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. The 1st stretch of the line will consist of 11 stations located at Aluva, Pulinchodu, Companypady, Ambattukavu, Muttom, Kalamassery, CUSAT, Pathadipalam, Edapally, Changampuzha Park and Palarivattom:
Aluva – Palarivottom section – View Kochi Metro map and information
Photo Copyright: Rajeesh Bhaskaran via KMRL
Edappally Station’s double decker structure for vehicles & trains – Photo Copyright: Zinil Z
KMRL has been running service trials over the past couple of weeks and opened its doors on this Saturday to its staff and contractors’ family members.
Here are a couple of recent tweets that you might find interesting. For more, see my Twitter handle.
India’s 8th metro system will soon open its doors in #Kochi ?
This is such a lovely video via KMRL’s FB page: pic.twitter.com/iuKtUKNEsa— The Metro Rail Guy (@TheMetroRailGuy) May 16, 2017
Solar panel installation at #Kochi Metro’s CUSAT Station is complete! All 22 stns will have a combined capacity of 4MW.
Via KMRL’s FB page: pic.twitter.com/5BDOfbruLF— The Metro Rail Guy (@TheMetroRailGuy) May 15, 2017
To take a virtual ride on a Kochi Metro train, visit this post.
For more updates, check out the Kochi section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Glad to hear,finally my hometown soon will have a metro connectivity even planning to travel as well,superb kmrl finished on time
Yay – congrats to you!
The Double Decker structures are the way to go these days like the Edappally station area. A huge cost savings in terms of infrastructure costs while getting vehicular and MRTS to co-exist. Jaipur has one too and many others in the pipeline. Wonder why DMRC didn’t adapt this technique? Probable area could have been Extension of Barapullah and Pink line from Nizamuddin to Mayur Vihar – a good distance of 3-4 kms and there wouldn’t have been the need for 2 separate bridges over the Yamuna. Your views TMRG……….
Hi, infra planning is quite fragmented in Delhi with little sharing going on between different agencies. Each org has their own plan and design, but little thoughts on how everyone can succeed. Even post-implementation, there’s little coordination and you can see that in DMRC’s poor last mile connectivity served by mini buses.
Pink Link’s Nizamuddin Station and the existing eastern terminal are at 2 different locations facing different directions, so a common bridge wouldn’t have been possible. Perhaps they could have integrated it on the Mayur Vihar end for 100-300m, but that’s about it.
4 Years for 13 KM Span is good record .
Hi TMRG,
When is Hyderabad metro going to get inaugurated? I thinks it’s the longest awaited metro line inauguration..heard some stretches are ready since 2015 but have been commissioned due to commercial non-viability..
What’s the latest you have about Hyderabad metro? Please share. Thanks..
* but have NOT been commissioned..
Depends on when the Telangana govt and L&T consider social responsibility more important than $$$ profits. What’s transpiring in Hyderabad is quite sad.
How Much Electricity does it take in all to run a 10 km Metro system, the station and the trains themselves, just asking out of curiosity
Hi, somewhere around 15-20 MW
What about the commissioning of remaining 14 km section ?
Will happen in stages over the next 2-3 years as there’s a lot of civil work pending inside the city. Contract to Soma Infra was cancelled due to poor progress and they invited bids for appointing a new contractor in Feb.
Next stretch would be a 5 km extension to Maharaja’s College.