Kochi Metro will go on, says HC

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the demolition of North Railway Overbridge (ROB), and asked for clarifcation from the state government on the status of the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd formed to execute the Metro Rail project.

The court's order came in reponse to a petition filed by V. M. Michael, convener of the Campaign for Economics in Most Appropriate Transport System for Kochi, against the demolition of the North ROB in the absence of alternate routes.

Kerala Govt. asks DMRC to start preliminary work on Kochi Metro

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today said the Government of Kerala had asked it to start preliminary and preparatory works for the proposed Kochi Metro Project.

The Kerala Government has sanctioned an amount of Rs.159 crores to the DMRC for this purpose, a spokesman for the DMRC said.

According to him, the DMRC will execute these preliminary activities, which include widening of approaches to roads and building of approaches of road over bridges on deposit terms on similar lines as the work being executed by DMRC for Jaipur Metro.

In Jaipur the DMRC has been asked to build the first line of 9.25 kms and consisting of 9 stations and activity on this has already commenced by the DMRC engineers.

According to the spokesman, the DMRC has been a catalyst for Metro expansion in India with projects in various stages of execution and planning in Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Pune, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

Consent for Kochi Metro likely by January: Sreedharan
Metro Rail Corporation chairman E.Sreedharan Saturday said the Kochi Metro Rail project is likely to get central government clearance by January next year.

Speaking to Manorama News Sreedharan said once the consent is obtained the project can be completed within a period of three-and-a-half years. Sreedharan was in town to receive a honarary D.Litt from Cusat.

He said he is getting good cooperation from the state government which has already sanctioned Rs 159 crores for preleminary activities.

Consent for Kochi Metro likely by January: Sreedharan
Metro Rail Corporation chairman E.Sreedharan Saturday said the Kochi Metro Rail project is likely to get central government clearance by January next year.

Speaking to Manorama News Sreedharan said once the consent is obtained the project can be completed within a period of three-and-a-half years. Sreedharan was in town to receive a honarary D.Litt from Cusat.

He said he is getting good cooperation from the state government which has already sanctioned Rs 159 crores for preleminary activities.

Kochi Metro Rail Project could be completed in 3 years time once the Centre gives its sanction

The proposed Kochi Metro Rail Project could be completed in three years time once the Centre gives its sanction, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Chairman E Sridharan said today.

The preliminary work in connection with the project, including land survey and station drawing, are on, he told reporters here.

When pointed out that no fund had been earmarked for the Kochi metro rail project in the central budget, he said that would not be a problem.

DMRC is the implementing agency for the project, which was proposed to be taken up as a Centre-state joint venture. It has been delayed for the last three years due to various reasons.

The elevated metro rail, expected to ease the traffic congestion in the city, is to be constructed on the model of Delhi Metro. - (Agencies)

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Kochi Metro Route

The Kochi Metro is a proposed mass transit system for the South Indian city of Kochi. It was one of the first proposed in India but was delayed for a variety of reasons. It is now planned to be commissioned by 2011. The alignment was created by the DMRC and is planned to be made on a Public-Private Partnership basis. The nodal agency for the project is KINFRA. Kochi Metro Rail Corporation has been created specially for this project.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has proposed a route spanning 25.253 from Thripunithura to Alwaye.There will be 26 Stations and are the following:

1. Aluva
2. Pulinchodu
3. Company Pady
4. Ambattkavu
5. Muttom
6. Appolo Typres
7. Jacobite Church
8. Kalamaserry
9. Pathadi Palam
10. Toll Junction
11. Edapally Junction
12. Edapally Station
13. Palarivattom
14. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
15. Kaloor
16. Lissie
17. Madhav Pharmacy
18. Maharaja's College
19. Ernakulam South
20. GCDA
21. Fathima Church
22. Elamkulam
23. Vytila
24. Thaikoodam
25. Punithura
26. Petta

‘Kochi Metro Rail top priority of Kerala Govt’

Implementing the Kochi Metro rail project is a top priority of the Government, Fisheries Minister S.Sharma informed the Assembly on Thursday.

“The Planning Commission has approved the project and the Government will try to begin the work at the earliest,’’ he said. Sharma was substituting Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who was not present in the House, to reply to a calling attention motion moved by K Babu.

Babu demanded effective intervention of the State Government to ensure basic infrastructure facilities in Kochi. “Roads and drinking water supply will be the major issues as Kochi grows. The demand in Kochi is 600 MLD of water. Of this, only 220 MLD is supplied in the city at present,’’ Babu said. Sharma said that drinking water projects worth Rs 201.17 crore would be implemented in Kochi under the JNNURM project.

“A sewage treatment project worth Rs 74.8 crore will also be implemented under the JNNURM. There are plans to construct flyovers on the Edappally- Palarivattom and Vyttila-Kundannoor routes,’’ he said.

Railway overbridge projects worth Rs 67.28 crore received the approval of the JNNURM. 200 hi-tech buses will be pressed into service this year, the Minister said.

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Kochi Metrorail project in 100-day scheme

image © The Hindu
A bouquet of achievements awaits Kerala with the long awaited Kochi Metro Rail Project close to being realised and Kozhikode set to be included in the expanded Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project.

The Planning Commission, after long and hefty persuasion by the Ministry of Urban Development, has given the green signal to the Metro Rail Project on the lines proposed by the State - a joint venture of the State Government and the Centre.

Kozhikode will figure in the expanded JNNURM project wherein the Ministry has decided to include 28 cities with five lakh population.

The Metro Rail Project, which could change the face of Kochi, has been put on the fast track with its inclusion in the 100-day programme of the Ministry of Urban Development. This was announced by Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy while divulging his Ministry’s action plan in the coming 100 days.

The Kochi metro rail project is an undertaking of the state government of Kerala. The metro rail project at Kochi is meant to facilitate transportation in the industrial city of Kochi. Currently, the means of transport in the city of Kochi are limited to auto rickshaws, buses, taxis and ferries. With the execution of the metro rail project in Kochi, traveling from one place to another in the city will not pose any more problems.

The government of Kerala has sought the active participation of the private sector companies to carry out this massive project of transportation with success. The metro rail project of Kochi is planned on BOT basis.

A couple of people who hold important posts in the government of Kerala have been selected to look after the overall work related to the project. Sheela Thomas, the secretary of the Kerala government, has been designated the special officer in relation of this project.

The project is planned to set up a metro rail connection as long as 25.253 kms. The proposed starting point of this metro rail connection is the place called Alwaye and the proposed ending point is the place called Pettah.

The Kochi metro rail project has a lot of significance, because of the economic significance of Kochi. The city of Kochi earns a lot of revenues for the entire state of Kerala, through its variety of industries. Therefore, to cater to the industrial needs of the city, the infrastructure of transport communication has become one of the most important concerns of the government. The metro rail project of Kochi is a part of the initiative of the Kerala government to better the infrastructure of the city.

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The traffic woes of Kochiites will finally be solved as the Kochi Metro Rail Project is getting ready to take off with the Planning Commission giving nod to the project.

The implementation of the project is expected to ease the road traffic in the city limits and reduce the burden on the traffic police in maintaining free flow of traffic during peak hours. Traffic Assistant Commissioner K B Venugopal said that the traffic on the roads would fall gradually once the Metro Rail Project, from Tripunithura to Aluva, was completed.

"More people will be using the Metro Rail and it will ease the pressure on other public transport systems. Even people with their own vehicles would use Metro Rail, thereby reducing the number of vehicles on roads," he said.

Venugopal said that the project would reduce the number of vehicles entering the city as more people from outer regions of the city would use the Metro Rail. " We expect the traffic to reduce drastically after the project is completed," he said and added that the Department had foreseen certain traffic problems during the implementation of the project. Via

Kochi Metro may finally see light of day

The Planning Commission has convened an inter-departmental meeting here Friday to discuss a delayed Metro rail project in Kerala, a senior government official said.

The project, slated to come up in Kochi, has seen no effective progress since 2006, when the work was to start.

'The meeting will discuss, among other things, the funding part of the project,' urban development secretary M. Ramachandran told IANS.

'We hope the meeting will help the project to take off. There is no point in delaying the project any longer,' added Ramachandran.

Friday's meeting is scheduled to be attended by top officials from the ministry of urban development and finance, apart from the plan panel, which has to sanction the outlay.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation -, the consultant and implementing agency for the Kochi Metro, submitted the project report way back in July 2005.

If approved, Kochi, the commercial hub of Kerala, will become the second southern city after Bangalore where Metro services will begin in a few years. The Bangalore project is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Had the work started as per schedule in 2006, Metro trains would have started chugging in Kochi by 2009.

Delhi and Kolkata are the only cities in India where Metro rail services are already operational.

The estimated cost of the 25-km long Kochi Metro project is around at Rs.3,000 crore -, with the state and the centre each putting up 15 percent of the outlay.

Ramachandran said the remaining will be funded through loans from financial institutions.

The state government is keen to get the project funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation -, which has funded Delhi's Metro project as well.

A section of traders and businessmen have objected to the Kochi Metro's scheduled route along the city's arterial Mahatma Gandhi Road.

But Ramachandran said it was too late to draw up a fresh route.

'The alignment change is not feasible. It will further delay the project and cost will also shoot up,' he added.

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