While the overhaul of the entire country’s transport sector is underway, Kochi is all set to have India’s first one of a kind system which will connect waterways to the Metro.
In the next four years, Kochi will be the first city in India and perhaps the fifth in the world to have a Water Metro, which will act as a feeder to the Kochi Metro. These boats will be air-conditioned and will have WiFi services enabled in them.
The boats will be fully covered to protect passengers from weather conditions and will directly feed them for further transport via Kochi Metro.
The project costs ₹ 747 Crores and majority of the soft loan is to be provided by German funding agency KfW. Kochi will be in the list alongside such cities like Sydney, Istanbul, and Venice to have this system in place.
“The focus is to shift people from cars and other modes of private transport to public transport.”
KfW has vowed to loan out ₹ 597 crore and the Kerala Government will pitch in another ₹ 102 crore. This project will add considerable accessibility for Kochi and commerce in the area is expectd to flourish once the transport is connected.
This will be a huge boost in the country’s connected transport services and might also pave the way for other cities to adopt the same in the future.
News source: Economic Times
Cover image sources: 1 & 2