State government likely to approve Kochi light tram feasibility study soon
Light trams are an improvised version of the bus rapid transport (BRT) system. This was mulled as a loop line of Kochi metro in April last year following a meeting that was held here between Kochi metro officials and their counterparts from HESS Green Mobility, which implemented the light tram services in Brisbane and many other parts of the world.
The State's approval is critical for the final nod from the Centre, especially since the Centre is expected to bear the cost of the feasibility study for the first such project in India to operate light trams through a largely-elevated corridor. The State sought details like project estimates, which KMRL provided. Even as the State's approval is awaited, the metro agency has done a bulk of the groundworks to save on time. It is estimated that the mass rapid transport system (MRTS) can be readied at one fourth the cost of the conventional metro rail system, with negligible land acquisition, reliable sources said. The proposal comes at a time when the completion of Kochi metro's 11.20-km-long Kakkanad extension is caught in uncertainty primarily due to the inordinate delay in getting the approximately ₹1200-crore loan that was awaited from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). KMRL had earlier said that the metro's Thripunithura terminal station could be linked with the proposed terminal station of the Kakkanad extension at Infopark by way of a tram network considering the minimal investment in capital and also for land acquisition.
KMRL managing director Loknath Behera said that the metro agency had sent a letter to the State government, citing the need for the State's approval in order to get the Centre's nod.
'The State's approval is critical for the Centre to approve and also fund the feasibility study for the light tram service in Kochi. As for a tram service between the metro's terminal stations at Thripunithura and Infopark, it ought to be read with the demand for a conventional metro system in the corridor,' he added.
The conclusion of a feasibility study to operate light trams in the 6.2-km MG Road-Menaka-Park Avenue Road-Jos Junction-MG Road-Thevara loop-line corridor is expected to be followed by the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) for the purpose, it is learnt.
Apart from improving patronage in Kochi metro, this would benefit people from Thevara and the densely populated West Kochi region. It would also help link the metro's M.G. Road Station with the Water Metro's High Court terminal.
As per estimate, a three-coach electric hybrid light tram having 25-metre length can carry up to 240 passengers. They can be fully recharged in six minutes, while such An MRTS can be readied at less than one-fourth the cost of the conventional metro rail system if its coaches are manufactured in India.
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