Water Metro plans expansion as ridership crosses 40 lakh

Kochi: Kochi Water Metro, celebrating its second anniversary on Friday, plans to expand its network to more areas by opening five more routes in the city and suburbs in its third year of operation. Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) will soon open Mattancherry, Willingdon Island, Paliyamthuruth, Kadamakkudi and Kumbalam routes. Work on jetties in these locations is in the final stage and services will be launched as Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) delivers more boats to KWML in the coming weeks.

On April 25, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Water Metro service in the country. Water Metro started operation with services on High Court-Vypeen and Vyttila-Kakkanad routes. It was further expanded to three other routes: High Court-South Chittoor, South Chittoor-Cheranalloor in March 2024 and High Court-Fort Kochi in April 2024, making it five routes connecting 10 terminals over a span of 24.8 route kilometres.

Water Metro services served more than 20 lakh passengers with an average ridership of about 5,500 passengers per day in the first year. Number of passengers slightly increased in the second year of service. As per the data on Wednesday, ridership crossed 40.57 lakh. However, the average daily ridership remains at 5,500 and the expansion of service is expected to further increase average ridership.

Though Water Metro services gained popularity among local and international tourists, KWML officials remain concerned about the hesitation shown by everyday commuters in choosing Water Metro as their preferred mode of transport. On the first anniversary of the services, KWML announced that they would take steps to attract more regular passengers. However, the services are yet to attract a sizable number of regular passengers who mainly depend on the services of state water transport department.

"We launched many schemes to attract regular passengers, including different kinds of travel passes which offer journeys at discounted rates. We expect an increase in ridership once the network expands to more areas and with the launch of more feeder bus and autorickshaw services," said KWML chief operating officer Sajan P John. "We are planning to start Mattancherry and Willingdon services within a month," said John.

Meanwhile, KWML has started feasibility study on implementing the project in other selected cities of the country. Recently, ministry of ports, shipping and waterways assigned Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), which conceived Kochi Water Metro project, to conduct a feasibility study to assess the potential for similar services in different regions of the country. With the approval of its board of directors to form a consultancy wing for the initiative, KMRL has formed an internal committee.