Kochi: As the Kochi Metro is set to celebrate the first anniversary of the commencement of commercial operations on June 17, the Kochi Metro Rail Limited is planning to introduce a series of facilities and programmes to attract more ridership and increase non-ticket revenue. The expansion plans include the introduction of trip pass and daily pass, feeder service from all stations, game zones in stations, ‘click-n-collect’ system and naming right for Metro stations.
Monthly and daily passes will be introduced soon using which commuters can avail of 40 per cent reduction in ticket fare. The KMRL board of directors is set to clear the proposal, said sources at KMRL. The monthly pass will be useful for daily commuters who travel twice daily and they can take out 60 trips in a month. The daily pass will be helpful for joy riders who want to experience Metro journey for single time.
KMRL will introduce feeder services from all stations within two months. Autorickshaws, vans, cycles and online taxis will operate as feeder services. Those not having online taxi booking app in their phones can avail of the service of taxi counters in Metro stations. Through the ‘click-n-collect’ programme, commuters can order products at online portals and the same will be delivered at Metro stations. Tenders have already been invited for this. The project is being implemented with the support of online portals and local shops. Commuters can collect the groceries from whichever stations they want.
Steps are also afoot to open shops and business enterprises in Metro stations, including coffee shops, book stalls and eateries. Game zones with facility for volleyball, table tennis and similar other games will be set up in stations with enough space. The facility will be initially introduced at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium station where the KMRL plans to start training classes for different games. The KMRL also will generate revenue by providing optical fibre cables passing along the Metro viaduct to private telecom companies for which tenders have been floated.
