Highlights of Kochi Metro Project

Project Cost	Rs 5,181 crores
Length	25.612 km
Number of stations	22
Main architect of Kochi Metro	'Metroman' E. Sreedharan
Maximum carrying capacity per train	975
Inaugurated By	Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
Inaugurated on	17th June 2017, at Kaloor Stadium, Cochin
Designed and Manufactured by	Alstom (70% of the components were made at Chennai Facility of Alstom -Make in India)

• Kochi Metro Rail Service is India’s eighth inter-city metro rail
• Kochi Metro Rail Limited has created a national record as the fastest metro project, by constructing the first phase of the longest corridor 13 km, in a shorter span of 45 months.
• A majority of women, especially 500 workers from Kudumbashree Mission have been recruited for various tasks in the station.
• Kudumbashree Mission is the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission of the Government of Kerala.
• Kochi Metro Rail Limited is the first government owned company to officially recruit people from transgender community as 23 transgenders perform various counter and housekeeping tasks in the metro stations.
• This is the first metro service to have an Automated Fare Collection System which uses an open-loop pre-paid smart card called the Kochi-One that can also be used outside the metro system for other cashless travel and mercantile transactions. The company has partnered with Axis bank for the card.
• KMRL has also launched Kochi One mobile application to inform passengers about metro rail timings, different routes and places in and around metro station.
• First time in India, this project uses a modern signalling system called Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system, which uses software to communicate between the trains to minimise man made errors. This technology would lead way to unmanned train operations or pilotless travel.
• The Braking energy of each train is proposed to be fed back into the grid and it will be used by the train that follows it, which is a great power-saving move.
• This is the first metro service in the country that will utilise solar power to meet 25 per cent of its power needs in the upcoming days. Plans are being made to increase the solar panels to meet 50 percent of electricity requirements.
• Every sixth pillar of the metro line will have a vertical garden, which will use recycled municipal waste.
• The proposed ‘Water Metro’ project, which will procure 78 fast ferries to provide boat rides as a feeder service to the rail corridor, will cost Rs.747 crores. The project cost of €85-million will be financed by the German bank K f W.
• This water feeder service aims to connect the Kochi metro to the 10 island communities of Kochi by the end of 2018.
• The Bill to implement Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority, which will integrate the metro, bus and boat transport modes, is being considered by the State government of Kerala.
• Every metro station is designed with a theme, which represents the cultural and geographical importance of the state of Kerala.