Kochi Metro plans foray into light freight segment

The first-of-its-kind initiative is expected to help small businessmen, vendors and hawkers to seamlessly transport their goods across the city.
The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) authorities made it clear this will be done without any negative impact on the passenger experience.
The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) authorities made it clear this will be done without any negative impact on the passenger experience.(Photo | Express)
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KOCHI: The Kochi Metro is planning to start light freight transport in addition to the existing passenger services and has initiated preparation of a comprehensive plan to achieve the mixed traffic operation, as it eyes a further boost to its revenue.

The first-of-its-kind initiative is expected to help small businessmen, vendors and hawkers to seamlessly transport their goods across the city and also aims to cut pollution and vehicular movements as the city logistics still rely mostly on polluting road freight traffic.

The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) authorities made it clear this will be done without any negative impact on the passenger experience.

“The move follows the Union government's recently advocating freight transport using metro facilities. We have decided to foray into the light freight sector. The services will be run only during non-peak hours, especially in the early morning and night hours,” said a KMRL official. The firm will conduct a study and fix the fare. It will also prepare a legal framework and guidelines soon.

“We can’t commit to a definite time frame at this stage,” the official said.

Platform length, short stops among challenges

We plan to utilise the entire existing Aluva-Tripunithura metro facility for the purpose, the KMRL official said.

Earlier this month, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal suggested the Delhi Metro add separate cargo compartments to metro trains as it will enhance business efficiency for the urban working class. This came close on the heels of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways asking various metro agencies to explore the possibility of cargo movement within cities.

However, the Kochi Metro faces a hurdle in adding additional coaches. Currently, a metro train has only three wagons. “The length of the existing platforms is a problem. It does not support attaching additional coaches,” the official said. Each train is 66.55 m long and can accommodate up to 975 passengers with 136 seats.

Instead, the KMRL mulls marking a small separate area at the rear end of the trains as a possible choice. Another challenge is the short duration of stops at stations. To overcome this, the metro study involves factors such as allowable freight materials, freight dimension, weight, door system, train stop accuracy and acceptable transfer time.

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