The Kochi Metro, which has been shut for the past 167 days, is all set to resume its services from Monday, significantly, with a reduced fare. The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has announced that the maximum fare of the metro will be reduced from Rs 60 to Rs 50. It has also announced a 10% reduction in fare for Kochi One Card holders.
With COVID-19 regulations in place, Kochi Metro has said that the service will be resumed only after implementing all preventive measures. Since the past few days, the metro trains at its yard in Muttom and all the stations have been sanitised vigorously by its workforce.
The Kochi Metro has also announced a special time schedule for the first two days. On September 7 and 8 (Monday and Tuesday), the metro trains will operate with a gap of 10 minutes each, starting from 7 am and ending at 8 pm. At noon, between 1-2 pm, there will be no service. It was earlier said that trains will only operate in an interval of 20 minutes. It is unclear if the new 10-minute schedule will be continued from Wednesday.
From hand-free automatic sanitiser machines to alternate seating arrangements, Kochi Metro has taken many steps to ensure commuters travel safely. Hands-free automatic sanitiser machines will be kept at every station, which everyone mandatorily has to use along with face masks. As people enter the station, their temperature will be checked.
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In between the halts at stations, all the doors of the trains will be opened for 20 seconds to facilitate air circulation. At the end of each trip, doors will be opened for five minutes similarly.
Meanwhile, the KMRL has also announced that the Thykoodam-Petta stretch will be inaugurated by Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through video conference on Monday. With this, the Phase 1 of Kochi Metro will be completed.
All images by Arun Chandra Bose