Services of the Kochi metro were disrupted for 30 minutes on Sunday morning after a train broke down at Edappally station.
A spare train arrived from the metro’s coach-maintenance depot at Muttom and towed the stranded train to the depot for repair works. The technical issue is being addressed. Passengers would have had to be evacuated had the train encountered the snag while away from the station. “Similar issues are common in other metros,” metro sources said.
This is the third snag reported in the metro since its operations began in June.
CMRS inspection
Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) K.A. Manoharan and a team of officials under him will inspect five metro stations in the five-km-long Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium-Maharaja’s College Ground corridor on Monday and Tuesday.
The inspection will start at 9 a.m. and will cover Kaloor, Lissie Hospital and M.G. Road stations. The team will inspect station access, signage, safety measures, technical aspects and station controls.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is slated to inaugurate the corridor at a function to be held at Town Hall on October 3, if the CMRS issues safety certificate for the stretch. Union Minister of State for Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri will preside.
The number of trains operating in the metro system will go up from six to nine once the metro reaches Maharaja’s College Ground. The fare for the 18-km-long Aluva-Maharaja’s College Ground stretch will be ₹50.
Van feeder services
Meanwhile, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has informed that it has begun feeder van services from Aluva, Kalamassery, Edappally and Palarivattom metro stations, to provide last-mile connectivity for commuters. They will be available between 7.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Kochi-1 smart cards too will be accepted in the vans. The services will shortly be made available at all 16 stations in the Aluva-Maharaja’s College Ground corridor, in a phased manner. Already, feeder vans operate in 13 routes and feeder autorickshaws in 54 routes. Route maps are available at stations.