Kochi Metro to start commercial operations between Aluva and Palarivattom on Monday

Kochi: Kochi Metro, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, will start commercial operations on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_3706501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi with Kerala chief minister and other dignitaries at the launch of Kochi Metro on Saturday. Twitter @CMOKerala[/caption] The trains will start from Aluva and Palarivattom from 6 am simultaneously and finish the day’s ride at 10 pm at Aluva, a Kochi metro rail spokesperson said on Sunday. The headway would be 8.20 minutes and there would be 219 trips between 6 am and 10 pm from Monday, she said. Meanwhile, Kochi Metro Rail Corporation organised “Sneha Yatra” for 1,550 persons including nearly 450 children with physical and cognitive disabilities from special schools, children from orphanages and inmates from old age homes. They also organised a special yatra for workers who built the system for the city. Their family members were also invited for the journey. KMRL had honoured hundreds of labourers who worked hard by giving them traditional Kerala Sadya (feast), prior to the inauguration. Modi had enjoyed a ride on Kochi Metro on Saturday along with dignitaries, including Governor P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu and “Metro man” E Sreedharan. Kochi Metro Rail Limited is a 50:50 joint venture of the Government of India and Government of Kerala. The first phase, inaugurated on Saturday, operates from Aluva to Palarivattom and covers 13.26 km and 11 stations. In his inaugural speech, the prime minister had hailed the special features of the Kochi Metro. It is the first metro project to be commissioned with a modern signalling system called the “Communication-Based Train Control Signalling system." The coaches reflect the Make in India vision. They have been built by Alstom of France, at their factory near Chennai, and have an Indian component of around seventy percent.