KOCHI: Visitors stopping by the tourist destination of Fort Kochi can soon stay back and enjoy the cool night breeze. For, the Kochi Water Metro is all set to extend its night services by an hour.
Until recently, the last Water Metro boat left Fort Kochi at 7.35 pm. Then, one more trip was added on an experimental basis, leaving the tourist spot at 8 pm to reach the High Court terminal by 8.15 pm. This, even as the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) operates its last service from Fort Kochi at 9.50 pm, and the Kochi Metro is operational till 10.30 pm.
“We added another trip recently and many commuters, mostly tourists, are availing the service from Fort Kochi though there are not many passengers for the onward journey. We’re taking stock of the situation and plan to extend the service by at least an hour,” said a senior Metro official.
The official cited a police advisory against operating the services late into the night. “The advisory was issued to us when we started, saying that a lot of fishing boats will be operating in the backwaters as dusk sets in. We received a police advisory not to operate late into the night, but now that we are been familiar with the operation and taken all safety measures, we plan to further extend the operational period,” the official said.
This comes even as there is a demand to extend the boat services till 10 pm. “Visitors like to stay back and enjoy the night scenery at the beach, and the shops and the park are open till 10 pm. Right now, the last metro service is at 8 pm and many are forced to cut their visit short to catch it. We request the authorities to extend it to 10 pm, as there is a huge potential to cater to more tourist passengers,” said Padmanabha Mallya, secretary, West Kochi Passengers Association.
The Water Metro authorities have also decided to introduce free Wi-Fi services in its boats to lure more tourists, who form a bulk of the commuters.
“Providing the service in moving boats posed a challenge. We are currently working on solutions with the help of experts and are hopeful of introducing the facility in our boats soon,” the Metro official said.
The Water Metro is set to start new services to Mattancherry by December first week. A circular feeder service connecting the MG Road metro station with the High Court Water Metro terminal and Maharaja’s College will also be introduced later.