KOCHI(Metro Rail News): The proposed alignment of Kochi Metro Phase 3 has come under scrutiny of urban transport experts, local merchants, and citizens after the KMRL submitted the Detailed Project Report of Aluva-Angamaly route to state government earlier this month. The proposed route has faced a heavy censure for skipping the integration of Angamaly Railway Station, as the station sits at core of transport activities.
The Demand for Aluva – Angamaly Route Revision & KMRL’s Reasoning
The proposed elevated alignment will run from Aluva and follow the Nayathode route after Kochi airport to connect Karayamparambu in Angamaly. Against this backdrop, the coalition of urban transport experts, bus operators, and local merchants argues that the metro route shall move closer to NH 544 after serving at the airport.
High Land Acquisition Costs Block Realignment
According to KMRL, the rerouting of the metro route to follow NH 544, will be economically challenging as the land acquisition costs have skyrocketed in the respective area and the decision to realign the route might not be feasible.
Local stakeholders, however, have raised concerns over the proposed alignment, particularly its failure to connect with the railway station and the municipal bus terminal. B O Davis, secretary of the Private Bus Operators’ Association (PBOA), pointed out that the bus terminal currently handles more than 130 private buses and is situated next to the railway station, according to the Economic Times.
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Davis said the existing bus services have operated for 38 years, linking rural areas and nearby towns with railway passengers. He argued that leaving both the railway station and bus terminal outside the metro network would deny passengers from the northern districts an important interchange between different modes of transport. A common transport hub, he said, could attract higher passenger volumes while also reducing traffic pressure within the town.
The alignment through Nayathode has also come under criticism from Seby Varghese, president of the Angamaly Metro Action Council. Varghese said a survey conducted by the council showed that more than 90% of respondents supported shifting the alignment towards NH 544. Such an alignment, according to him, would bring the metro within reach of the railway station, bus terminal and major industrial establishments, including TELK. Varghese said the proposed Nayathode alignment would increase the travel time between Angamaly and Kariyad to around 20 minutes, compared with about 10 minutes under the more direct route.
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