Kochi Water Metro: Transportation is no less than a boon to humankind. It not only facilitated mobilisation but also helped people to save money and time. With the advancing technology, the scale and level of transportation further improved in the favour of commuters. From bullock carts to bullet trains, mankind’s history has come a long way to get here. Metro is one of the advanced sides of modern transportation, which is affordable and comfortable from the commuters’ perspective. Delhi is the best example of how the right mode of transportation sets the economy and eases the lifestyle of the whole population.
Since, the old times, waterways have always been an affordable mode of transportation, but with time, it started considering a slower way to commute. However, on 13 April 2023, Kochi became the first city to receive the first Water Metro to revolutionise the waterway by providing it the form of a sustainable and efficient way of commuting.
What Is Water Metro?
Water Metro is an integrated ferry system connecting different city points through waterways. Kochi Water Metro is the same ultra-modern ferry system connecting multiple Greater Kochi water stations. The Water Metro in Kochi, Kerala has shown that technology can revolutionise a whole transport system. Kochi Water Metro is not only a faster transport system but also has affordable prices.
How Does Kochi Water Metro Function?
The modern ferry system designed as Kochi Water Metro stretches over 76 kilometres and connects 10 islands through 38 terminals and 16 routes. With 75 electric boats, the Kochi water metro more than 33000 islanders are expected to benefit from this new way of transportation. The first boat of the project Water Metro was started in December 2022 and the project is expected to begin by 2035.
Among all the 38 terminals, The Kochi Water Metro connects terminals like Vytilla, High Court, Vypin, Kakkanad, Bolgatty, South Chittoor, Eloor, Fort Kochi, and many more.
Why Kochi Water Metro Is Important?
When transportation is considered the major contributor to polluting nature and degrading the environment, Kochi Water Metro emerged as the right solution at the right time. Many factors make it efficient and significant and are the following:
Sustainable: When there is an effort approach to embrace sustainable development, Kochi Water Metro is the perfect example of it to expedite human mobilisation while protecting the environment. More than 75 e-boats are running across Kochi to fulfil these dual objectives.
Affordable: Affordability is an important aspect of the people choose public transport. However, as far as the Kochi Water Metro is concerned, it is not as affordable as other public transport. It only remains for the tourist service as the fair of two stations is Rs 6 charged by the state government whereas the Kochi Water Metro charges Rs 40 for the same distance. At the same time, it is not that expensive, it is highly preferred by the tourists.
Robust Tourism: Water Metro is a new phenomenon and therefore it is a major point of attraction for tourists. It has facilitated the travel of tourists to different places as Kerala situated at the backwaters.
Hustle-free: Far from the hustling and jam-packed roads, the water metro in Kochi provides travel full of ease, comfort and convenience. From an economic perspective, the water metro in Kochi is freeing up the road space for other infrastructural development and providing much resilient transportation system in the meantime of climate change.
Model for Other Cities: As Kochi Water Metro is the first of its kind in the country, it has created an infrastructural model for other Indian cities which have good streams of waterways.
Across the Kochi
With the Kochi Water Metro, a tourist can wander across the whole of Kochi and see the places at a reasonable cost. There are many tourist spots located near the different terminals on the line of this water metro; Folklore Museum, Wonderla (An amusement park), Cherai Beach, Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary, Bolgatty Island Resort, etc. Kerala’s backwater has always been a unique experience for the tourists but Kochi Water Metro has given it a modernised form which is more efficient in every way.
During Emergency
Recently, Kochi Water Metro has added an emergency response boat to its fleet which is designed to provide quick safety to any kind of natural calamity, fire and accident. The boats are running for daily operations and are also made with cutting-edge technology and use Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) batteries that provide quick response in the time emergency with a long life of batteries.
Accomplishments in Short Journey
It has not been so long since its inception, still, the Kochi Water Metro has won the prestigious Gussies Electric Boat Award for this year. In its sustainability objective and pulling more tourists, the future of Kochi Water Metro and infrastructure like the same could be a good option to expedite India’s objective to deal with climate change and global warming.
