Kochi: India's first water metro project to start in July 2022

New Delhi: The country’s first water metro project "Kochi Water Metro" connecting ten islands surrounding the port city Kochi will start on a pilot basis in July. The integrated ferry transport project in the Greater Kochi region is proposed by Kochi Metro Rail Limited.

It will be a socially inclusive transport system with an elite touch with an affordable tag. Trial runs already started and main terminal work has finished. Kochi Water Metro, a subsidiary of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd has Streamlined 15 routes that cover 75 km and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd is making electrically-propelled hybrid boats.

It serves as a feeder service to suburbs along with rivers where transport accessibility is limited. The project obtained the final environment clearance in Oct 2019, and its first phase was completed in 2021. On 15 February 2021 Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated its first route between Vytilla and InfoPark constructed under Phase I of the project. The inauguration was a pre-election cosmetic inauguration as services did not begin until March 2022. 

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