Light metro will go ahead: E Sreedharan

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kochi Metro will launch its commercial operations between Aluva and Palarivattom on November 1, though efforts are on to extend it to Maharajah’s College, principal advisor E. Sreedharan has said.

The metro conducted a trial run from Muttom yard to Kalamassery on Saturday, which will go up to Edappally by March 15. Mr Sreedharan said the preparatory works on the Kozhikode light metro would begin on March 4 and Thiruvananthapuram on March 9.

He said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which is executing the Kochi Metro, was happy to be in charge of the preparatory works of the country's first light metro project.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to advance '4,733 crore for the project which costs around '5,218 crore, he told reporters here on Saturday.

The decision to go for the lighter version was taken considering the peak hour Peak direction traffic (PHPDT) of the cities. The light metro will have an axle load of 16 tonnes, Mr Sreedharan said.

The DMRC has submitted the DPR to the urban development ministry for in-principle approval, which is expected to come within two to three months. “We'll start the civil works after getting the approval,” he said. It will be completed in nine months.

The DMRC was given the interim consultancy at 0.1 percent of the project cost. The DPR estimates the cost of the metro on elevated tracks in Thiruvananthapuram from Technocity to Karamana (21.82 km) with 19 stations at Rs 4,219 crore and that of Kozhikode (13.33 km) from Medical College to Meenchanda having 14 stations, Rs 2509 crore.