KOCHI: The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is planning a unique roundel logo for Kochi Metro Rail, similar to the iconic logo that is familiar to every Londoner.
According to a top KMRL official, KMRL’s customer-experience consultant Tata Elxsi has finalised the new logo, which will be unveiled soon.
For the London Underground, every station displays the underground roundel, often containing the station’s name on the central bar. The roundel has been used for many other public transportation services in different colour pairs.
“Similarly, there will be a main logo for the Kochi Metro Rail, perfectly matching the aquamarine blue colour already selected for the Metro. As the KMRL is also planning to launch other modes of transportation as part of integrating Kochi’s public transport sector under the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), there will be similar logos for them also,” said the official.
Referring to the reason for changing the existing green logo, which resembles Malayalam letter ‘ka’, the official said the decision was taken considering the fact that it would be difficult to integrate it with different colour schemes. The new logo will be designed by integrating the first two letters of the Kochi Metro. Through the new logo, the Metro Rail authorities are also planning to brand Kochi and Kerala in the global map.
Further, the authorities reiterated that they had no intention to bring back the old name, ‘Komet’. According to them, the project will be known as ‘Kochi Metro’.
Smart Card
The KMRL is also planning to issue smart cards titled ‘Kochi Card’ to commuters, which could be used for travelling in the Metro. A final decision on the card will be taken after holding discussions with Axis Bank, which is investing in the automatic fare collection (AFC) system and the co-branded smart cards for the Kochi Metro.
The smart card, which will enable the KMRL to introduce a single ticketing system for various modes of transport, can also be used for shopping and banking purposes.
Meanwhile, construction of the Metro coaches is progressing at the Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, facility of Alstom. The first set of coaches is expected to be delivered by December. Initially, three trains - each with three cars - will be delivered for the trail run, which is expected to start in the beginning of 2016.