Metro juggernaut rolls on 

KOCHI: The second phase development prospects of the Kochi Metro rail project — from Kaloor to Kakkanad — became brighter on Monday with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocating Rs 1,957.05 crore for the project in the Union budget. The Phase II project will begin from JLN Stadium and end at Infopark, via Kakkanad, covering a distance of 11.2 km. 

Sixty per cent of the project cost will be raised through loans from bilateral/multilateral agencies. The Agence Française de Developpement (AFD), the French agency which provided a loan for the first phase, has given in-principle nod to provide external borrowing for the second phase too.

“It’s a welcome move. We will now initiate the development plan and the design for the Phase II line. We will also prepare the necessary tender documents to be able to complete the  process in the next four to six months. By June-July, we will be in a position to have the EPC contractor on board to implement the project,” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma, managing director, KMRL. The Phase II proposal, approved by the state cabinet, is under the consideration of the Centre. With the proposal included in the budget, the project is expected to get the Public Investment Board (PIB) clearance soon enabling KMRL to launch the project officially. 

Anticipating the Centre’s green signal, KMRL has already launched the preparatory work on  the Seaport-Airport Road. “By connecting Phase-I to Phase-II, passengers will get a seamless travel experience. The project is planned to be completed in four years, once officially launched,” a KMRL official  said.  At the Infopark-II station, the rail network is planned to be integrated with Silverline, the proposed semi-high-speed railway line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod.

The Kochi Metro alignment will act as a feeder service to Silverline. The Phase-II metro corridor will also integrate with the Water Metro network at the Kakkanad and Infopark jetties. The Phase II project will connect the city centre with Infopark, the largest IT hub in Kerala, and with Kakkanad, a major residential and commercial hub where the district headquarters and the Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) are located.

The proposed alignment of 11.2 km with 11 elevated metro stations will connect with the existing Phase-I corridor at JLN Stadium station. The new stations would be Palarivattom Junction, Palarivattom Signal, Chembumukku, Vazhakkala, Kunnumpuram, Kakkanad Junction, CSEZ, Chittethukara, Rajagiri, Infopark I and Infopark II.The new metro corridor will also provide multi-model integration with the bus system, water transport-ferry system and the public bicycle sharing programme of KMRL.