KOCHI: Six years into its operations, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) is gradually improving its first-and-last-mile connectivity using electric feeder buses. The feeder service to Kochi airport from Aluva metro station has proved to be a roaring success. Now, it has added service from Kalamassery metro station to the Kakkanad water metro terminal.
“There is a huge demand for last-mile connectivity to Kakkanad from Kalamassery metro station. We held a trial on the route last month and found it to be a success,” said a KMRL official.
“On average, around 1,300 passengers were using the service daily,” the official said, adding the move is to ensure metro rail and water connectivity to and from the city.
KMRL employs a fleet of six buses for its feeder service, four on the Aluva airport route and the rest on the Kalamassery-Kakkanad route. We increased the number of buses following demand on the Aluva airport route and reduced the time interval between services to 15 minutes from 30 minutes.
“The first feeder bus service starts at 6:30 am from Aluva and the last service is at 9:15 pm. On the Kalamassery-Kakkanad route, we have both buses covering different routes,” said the official.
“The first feeder bus from Kalamassery to Kakknaad departs at 7:35 am and covers Infopark before returning back to Kalamassery station. The second bus covers Kalamassery Medical College and Infopark,” the official said.
KMRL had invited expressions of interest from bus operators for an electric feeder service a couple of months ago. This was after KMRL ended its contract with Kleen and Smart Bus Ltd. “Chakra Synergy has been given the contract to operate electric buses for six months on both routes,” said the official. On the next route for the feeder service, the official said that it will be introduced based on demand, future prospects and overall integration of the project.