Kochi: The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has started trial of feeder services which will be deployed on a regular basis from all 16 stations in the 18-km long Aluva-Maharaja’s Ground section from October three. “The trial of mini buses is on from September 23. The commuters can avail the services from Aluva, Kalamassery, Edappaly and Palarivattom stations from 7.30 am to 10.30 am and from 4.30 pm to 8 pm. The Kochi One smartcards will be accepted in the feeder vans. Commuters can get route maps and feeder passes from stations,” a spokesperson said.
The official said feeder services have been planned for all the 16 stations and will be rolled out in stages from October three when the second reach of the Kochi Metro will be launched. “As of now feeder routes from 11 stations have been fixed. It includes 54 auto routes and 13 van routes. The routes for the remaining five stations are in the process of being charted out,” the spokesperson said. “We’ve decided to engage services of an agency which would co-ordinate and operate feeder services as per requirements of metro commuters,” a senior metro official said.
The metro authorities have equipped 100 autorickshaws with GPS machines while the same will be installed in another 300 vehicles, the official said. Also, the project to deploy electric auto-rickshaws to conduct feeder services covering remote areas and narrow bylanes in the city is now closer to reality. “We’ll function on the model of Uber and already tied up with a few online companies. We’re encouraging traditional auto drivers to join the society and become part of the e-rickshaw project which is expected to be announced on October three along with the launch of the Kochi Metro second reach,” said Adv T.B. Mini, a member of the District Autorickshaw Union Co-ordination Committee and the Trade Union Congress state secretary.
“We’re planning to operate E-rickshaw services from all the 16 stations in the section and the fares charges will be the government-fixed ones. Now that the state government has given nod for share auto scheme, we’ll also operate the same,” she said. The KMRL has floated the ‘Request For Proposal’ for selection of the Metro Feeder Services Aggregator and the last date for submission of the tender documents is October 13.
