KOCHI: In a move that may substantially boost last-mile connectivity, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) is all set to deploy its 15 e-feeder buses this Christmas season, enabling commuters to travel to metro stations and back from remote places with ease.
“We procured 15 e-feeder buses in the first week of October itself. The registration process of the 32-seater Volvo-Eicher buses, having comfy seats, has now been completed. We aim to start the two-week long trial runs on December 15 so as to start operating the services by the Christmas festive season,” said a senior Metro official.
Three of the total six routes have been finalised - Aluva-airport, Chittettukara (Kakkanad Water Terminal)- Infopark, and Kalamassery-Medical College sections.
“Five buses will be deployed in the Aluva-airport section. The rest of the three routes are yet to be finalised,” the official said.
The routes in consideration include Vyttila-Edappally, Kaloor-Elamakkara (via Puthukalavattom), Tripunithura-Mulanthuruthy, MG Road-High Court-MG Road sections.
At present, a fleet of four buses operate in the 12-km long airport-Aluva section as feeder services at a time interval of 30 minutes. The KMRL has leased out the operation of the feeder buses to multiple firms like Kleen Smart Bus Ltd (KSBL) and Chakra Synergy. Now, it will deploy its own buses in the airport route, which is enjoying a good patronage, replacing those run by the private firms.
“A dedicated bus depot has been set up at Muttom yard, which has the facility to simultaneously charge the buses and their maintenance. We are also setting up charging stations at metro stations like Edappally, while the facility is being enhanced at Aluva and Vyttila metro stations,” the official said, citing the delay in deploying the new buses.
“Drawing sufficient power is a challenge. We are in the process of setting up charging points in more metro stations. We are also in talks with the KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) to draw power from its transformers. The solar energy that we produce is sufficient only for the station operations,” the official added.
The metro authorities are confident of enjoying increased commuter patronage for Metro trains and Water Metro services once the feeder buses start operating.
“This is especially true for the Vyttila-Kakkanad Water Metro services. We are in the process of setting up a second pontoon at the Vyttila Metro terminal and will increase the frequency of services to 20 minutes soon. We expect a lot of Infopark employees to shift to Water Metro once the feeder services come,” he said.
KSBL to provide trained crew for e-feeder services
The e-feeder buses will be operated by well-trained crew, adept in handling electric vehicles. Thanks to Kleen Smart Bus Ltd (KSBL), a Kochi-based public limited company registered by bus operators, which has recently launched a first-of-its-kind ‘bus crew bank’ initiative. “KSBL has already trained the first batch of 25 personnel, which includes women crew as well. They will be providing most of the crew for the e-feeder operations,” the official said.
Earlier, the KSBL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the SCMS Institute for Road Safety & Transportation (SiRST) to provide the training to the selected personnel.
The KSBL has set a target to form two teams of 100 each well-trained personnel, mostly women. The personnel will be trained on smooth operation of the buses, especially the costly EV vehicles. They are also imparted in-depth training on aspects like personality and communication skills.