Kochi Metro Rail Ltd to resolve parking woes soon
Tenders to set parking facility by next week.
Kochi: In what would be a big relief for metro commuters, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) is all set to float tenders for setting up multi-level parking facilities at select stations like Aluva by next week in its effort to resolve rising parking woes. Metro authorities also made it clear that an earlier plan to install Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) at metro stations for passenger safety as in the Chennai Metro was not shelved and it would be implemented in the near future. “We have finalized three locations including Aluva to set up a vertical parking facility. The plan is to go in for the Public-Private Partnership mode and the tender will be floated soon,” said a senior Metro official.
Though Kochi Metro enjoys good commuter patronage ever since it started commercial operations on June 19, the lack of sufficient parking facilities at most of the stations has turned out to be a major worry. To compound it, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has denied permission to metro authorities to use its vacant land near Palarivattom metro station. “We finally asked them to at least lease the land to us for six months. However, they were not ready to do that. We are also exploring the option of buying out old buildings near those stations experiencing a heavy rush and to develop vertical parking facilities there,” sources said.
On installing the PSDs which will act as a protective barrier separating the platform from the track, the official said, “We will be setting them up. Initially, we had asked the DMRC to do it but it refused. Then we did the tendering and a Chinese company won it. However, we could not cross-check their experience certificates. We will tender it again.”