Kochi metro is back on track and offering free rides to those stranded in the floods, following a temporary suspension of services due to water logging in the city.
CMRL authorities confirmed to TNM that the services in the entire 18 km stretch of the Kochi metro - from Aluva to Maharaja’s station - was resumed at 4 today. The metro will also offer free rides to shift those stuck in the flood hit Aluva to drier and safer places in the city.
“We wanted to make a swift recovery and resume services as we heard that several people have been stuck between Aluva and Company Pari junction with no means to move out due to water logging,” a CMRL source told TNM.
The trains will however ply at a lower speed and lower frequency, taking into consideration the flooding in several areas.
“The trains will move at 25 km per hour as compared to the usual 40-50 kms per hour. The frequency of train arrivals have also been reduced to every 16 minutes from what used to be every 8 minutes,” the source added.
Authorities at CMRL even had to set up a makeshift operations control centre in Muttom Railway Station as the original control centre was water logged. Even the power supply for the trains which usually comes from Muttom itself has been directed from Kalloor, the source added.
Aluva has been one of the worst hit areas of the district following the opening of dams in Idukki and Kochi. Those living on the banks of the Periyar were issues alerts and relocated to relief camps in safer locations in the city. However, there seems to be no respite yet as officials have confirmed that the water levels of the Periyar is yet to increase by another metre dude to intense rainfall in the state.