Kochi Metro Rail project would get its Phase 1 Ready within 48 Months and it would start fucntioning by 2016, according to Secretary, Urban Development (UD) Ministry, Sudhir Krishna.
“The project has some special features because of the uniqueness of terrain of Kochi. It also has a multi modal station which will integrate with the bus services as well as the ferry services,” Krishna said.
“So you get down from the metro and if you are living at some distance on an island, take a ferry and go to your island,” he said.
The Union cabinet had yesterday given go-ahead to the fully-elevated ‘standard gauge’ metro link, covering 25.6 km from Alwaye to Petta with 23 stations.
The cost of the project would be Rs 5181.79 crore and like in the case of Delhi Metro, Japan International Cooperation Agency would be approached for funding, Krishna said.
The Phase I of the Kochi metro was expected to be complete within 48 months. The secretary also gave details of the proposed fare structure for the Kochi metro.
For a travel up to a distance of 2 km a fare of Rs 10 would be charged while Rs 13 would be the fare for 2 to 4 km distance. The maximum fare as per the present proposal is Rs 30 for travel up to a distance of 24 to 30 km, Krishna said.
The Urban Development secretary said that for the Kochi metro network a 50:50 partnership company between the Centre and the state government would be set up.
The cabinet has approved the proposal as per which a Special Project Vehicle or SPV company will be launched for the implementation of the Kochi Metro project, Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna said.