KOCHI: Water Metro is eyeing operational break-even “in a couple of months”, since launching its service on April 23, 2023, by inching closer to its average daily ridership target of 7,000.
This even as it clocked 11,525 passengers on October 31, the third highest daily ridership, when its modern, air-conditioned boats were in great demand on the High Court-Fort Kochi section.
Long queues of commuters, mostly tourists from other states, were witnessed at both the High Court and Fort Kochi terminals as the Water Metro extended its services by half an hour to cater to the heavy rush on Diwali day.
“We need to operate one more route to touch the 7,000-mark. We’re gearing up to start services on the High Court-Mattanchery section next month, to coincide with Kochi Carnival, the biggest event in the West Kochi region. We’re also increasing the frequency of boats on existing routes. We’ve floated fresh tenders for another 15 100-passenger capacity (PC) boats to facilitate this [break-even],” a senior Water Metro official said.
Average daily ridership crossed 6,000 in October while the highest daily ridership of 14,500 was achieved during the Navratri festival. The Water Metro clocked the 3mn-passenger mark on October 30.
According to sources, authorities were planning to add 50-PC boats once Cochin Shipyard delivered its earlier order of 23 100-PC vessels.
“Now we’re looking to acquire 15 more 100-PC boats so as to increase passenger capacity on busy routes such as High-Court-Fort Kochi. Mattanchery is another tourist destination where we expect similar patronage. We’ll make a decision on the 50-PC boats later,” the official pointed out.
According to sources, authorities are targeting `2.5 lakh in daily collection to achieve break-even and they expect achieve the same in a “couple of months”.
Currently, Water Metro 15 ferries operate on five routes — HC-Fort Kochi, HC-Vypeen, HC-South Chittoor, South Chittoor-Cheranalloor, and Vyttila-Kakkanad. The project proposes to connect 38 terminals on 15 identified routes spread across 76km, by operating a total of 78 battery-electric-hybrid boats.
Kochi Water Metro is the first in the country to install a passenger counting system (PCS) at its terminals.
“The maximum capacity in the single boats is 100 -- 50 seating and 50 standing. However, the PCS system will automatically close when the number of passengers boarding a boat touches 96. We’ve also installed CCTV cameras covering every nook and corner of the boats and terminals for security purposes,” the official said.
Infopark connectivity
Authorities are also awaiting government approval for extending the Vyttila-Kakkanad services to Infopark. Currently, services are being operated up to Chittethukara, 2km from Infopark. “Extending the service to Infopark will result in a substantial rise in commuter numbers and also provide a quick, easy commuting option to thousands of employees.
However, a temporary bund is hindering the project. We’ve written to the government seeking a nod to relocate the Kozhichira bund, which would facilitate the extension of services to Infopark,” the official pointed out. With nearly 90,000 employees, Infopark-Smart City has the highest employee density in the city. Metro authorities will soon deploy an e-feeder bus, connecting Chittethukara to Infopark.
