[Pics] Kochi Metro’s Line-1 Ready to Go Live with 11 Stations
With just 2 days left for its inauguration & 4 days to open to the public, here’s a picture-post showcasing the 11 stations on Line-1 of Kochi Metro which’ll soon become India’s 8th operational metro system. The entire 25.6 km Line-1 with 22 stations was originally planned to open in 2016, but poor land acquisition progress as well as contractor-led delays forced the operator to curtail its plans and first start services on a smaller 13 km stretch.
Civil work for this 1st stretch, from Aluva to Pallarivatom, started in June 2013 by Larsen & Toubro for 2 civil packages: KC-01 (Aluva – Kalamassery) & KC-02 (Kalamassery – JLN Stadium) and was directly managed by a team from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Following the completion of civil work at different sites, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL), one by one, took over and worked with Tata Elxsi to develop a strong brand identity for itself and create rich visually-appealing themes for each station, with the Western Ghats as its central element, to showcase different aspects of Kochi and Kerala.
The stations were originally supposed to have platform screen doors, but its high procurement and installation costs made DMRC & KMRL drop the idea on the onset. The system aims to become carbon neutral in the future, and in order to come close to achieving that goal, the roofs of various sheds at the Muttom depot and all stations include solar panels to generate 4MW of electricity – enough to power up each station’s lighting fixtures and escalators.
Aluva – Palarivottom section – View Kochi Metro map and information
Here are some fantastic images courtesy KMRL’s FB page which were shot over the past 2 months while finishing works were at different stages of completion –
Aluva Station
Theme: Nature & Periyar River
Pulinchodu Station
Theme: Flora & Fauna
Companypady Station
Theme: Hills & Peaks
– No images available at this time.
Ambattukavu Station
Theme: Snails, Slugs & Snakes
Muttom Station
Theme: Birds
Kalamassery Station
Theme: Western Ghats
CUSAT Station
Theme: Kerala’s Maritime History
Pathadipalam Station
Theme: Fish
Edappally Station
Theme: Kerala’s Spices & Crops
Stunning drone view of #Kochi Metro’s Edappally Station which features a double-decker structure for vehicles (level +1) & trains (level +2) pic.twitter.com/GMcgQqSgBJ
— The Metro Rail Guy (@TheMetroRailGuy) May 29, 2017
Changampuzha Park Station
Theme: Kerala’s Culture & Art
– No images available at this time. See station design here.
Palarivattom
Theme: Flowers
Video: Local news coverage on each station’s theme –
A brief history of the line’s testing, train operation plan and fare chart can be viewed here.
For more updates, check out the Kochi section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
The stations are beautifully decorated. Best if compared to other Indian metros in my opinion.
I hope other Indian metros follow this trend.
Worldwide I guess Moscow metro stations are the best. ??
It’s an example of awesome architecture! I am really disappointed with Navi Mumbai Metro, really disappointed! Kochi Metro’s construction had started much later than NMM and still CIDCO says it “hopes” to operationalize NMM by 2018 ? And NMM wouldn’t even be anything extraordinary except its better looking piers and viaducts.
Amazingly well done on the aesthetics front which many other metros grossly lack!
Very beautiful. It’s upto Kochi people now to maintain it the same way.
visual treat to eyes. truly blending with the existing nature