Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first ever water metro project on 25th April 2023 that connects around 10 Islands in Kochi with a hybrid battery operated electric boat for smooth functioning throughout the city.
A grand roadshow was organized in Kerala for 2 days to welcome the Prime Minister. As the PM walked through the aisle, people on both sides of the road started cheering Narendra Modi. Few people showered flower petals and Modiji also shaked hands with the people around him.
An unique system for ease of transportation like water metro is really useful in a city like Kochi which enables an easy and convenient traveling experience. This is one of the unique and a game changing project which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Water metro is one of the luxurious transportation systems which will be available to people at affordable prices. Various other projects along with railway blueprints are yet to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister in Kochi and the worth of those projects are more than ₹ 3200 crores.
The Water Metro project in Kochi was implemented by KMRL (Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited) with the support from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, the German funding agency.
The water metro service will be operated in the frontiers of Kochi and it connects 10 nearby islands. Kochi is considered as the commercial capital of the state Kerala. The water metro project was pictured with 38 docks, 78 boats and it covers almost 76 kms width. Unlike regular ships, the water metro boats are soundless and battery-powered pollution free boats. The facilities to recharge the Boats are being provided in almost all of the depots.
Each boat costs ₹7 crores and these boats can travel at a speed of eight water miles per hour and the highlight of this boat is, they have aluminum-yacht husks. The seating capacity of these boats are 50 and it can carry almost 100 passengers.
All the docks were projected with electronic display boards with all the necessary details about the boat service. When there are movements in the boat, the announcement will be made in English, Hindi and Malayalam as well. The entry and exit cabins are air-conditioned in the boats, the layout design of the boats are similar to the Kochi metros which are easy and convenient for all the passengers. The travelers can book the tickets digitally and can also travel in both metro and water metro using “KOCHI 1” card.
