Transport in Kochi
Transport in Kochi | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Locale | Taxicab, bicycle, pedestrian |
. The city is widely known as the commercial or economic capital of the state of Kerala.
The road infrastructure in Kochi has not been able to meet the growing traffic demand and hence
Roads
Most roads in Kochi are under the control of the city corporation, State PWD and National Highway Authority. Many roads in the city follow a north–south direction with two east–west corridors.
Highways
Kochi is part of the
City roads
The main railway line cut Ernakulam city into 2 halves which are interconnected with three rail-over bridges (ROBs), which are one of the major bottlenecks due to being narrow bridges.
Fort Kochi has the maximum number of roads, mostly narrow in nature, due to presence of several heritage properties and thickly populated areas. Indira Gandhi Road is the main arterial road in Willingdon island that runs parallel to western coastal side of the island connecting Ernakulam Wharf with NH 966B.
Public transport
For transport within the city, buses and
Mayor Soumini Jain and MLA Hibi Eden are planning to join hands with a city-based think tank, Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) to promote public transport systems. CPPR has come up with one-year programme that aims to promote public transport with a research to quantify its impact. The programme will commence in October 2017.[10]
In 2010, the state public transport company, KSRTC started city services due to frequent complaints against red-buses, which has been praised for its efficient and controlled services. KSRTC operates two classes of service: a basic no-frills service known as Thiru-Kochi which has the same fare system as the red-buses. These buses are distinguishable by their blue-white livery and are JNNURM funded transport services. The JNNURM transport services operated by KSRTC offer premium air-conditioned low-floor bus services known as Orange Buses and non-air conditioned semi low floor buses known as Yellow Buses. Both the buses connect the central business district areas of Kochi with the nearby suburbs. Currently these premium bus services are available as per the schedule published by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. The URL is:http://www.keralartc.com/html/JnNURM-KOCHI-TimeTable.doc.
At present, 630 intra-buses are authorised to operate inside the city. The city also caters to nearly 2100 long-distance private buses, which include 466 inter-city state buses.[11]
Most of the buses run primarily on four major routes, known as the Big 4 routes[citation needed], though there are 160 official authorised routes to operate connecting 60 destinations in the city and nearby suburbs. The most popular route is the Aluva-Fort Kochi Route, which covers almost all the city areas. There is no routing numbering system, rather all buses carry destination boards with important bus stops marked below.
The city has primarily four major bus stations:
- Kaloor Bus station which is a major terminus used by privately operated long-distance buses and local red-buses. It is also a major stop for private mofussil services.
- KSRTC Central Bus Station in the south, which is exclusively operated by KSRTC inter-state/inter-city buses. Buses of neighbouring state transport corporations also operates their services from this bus station.
- KSRTC Jetty Station, located near Central Boat Jetty in Park Avenue, is used by KSRTC city and short-distance services.
- Fort Kochi Bus Terminus, located near Fort Kochi beach, is a major bus station for both private and KSRTC City services.
To ease congestion within the city limits, a large integrated public transport terminus is planned at Vytilla known as Integrated Mobility Hub,[12] which will act as a converging point for various modes of public transportation like intra-city and long-distance buses, metro rail and boat services. The first phase of the mobility hub has been completed and commissioned in February 2011.[13][14] The Mobility Hub plans to provide space for 170 buses, 2000 car bays, 50 inter-state buses parking bays, 5,000 two- and three-wheeler parking bays and a boat jetty with 3 piers for providing water ferry transport. The Vyttila station of the Kochi Metro will also be situated at the hub. A shopping mall and commercial towers are planned in the second phase to sustain with additional revenues[citation needed].
On-street Taxi cabs are rare but can be easily hired from taxi stands located all over the city. Popular online taxi aggregation apps like
Like many other cities, two-wheeler vehicles like motor bikes, scooters, cycles contribute 35% of the vehicle population in the city, which is extremely popularly among the locals. Kochi being a major financial and commercial center, there is a sharp rise in private vehicles plying on the city roads thereby contributing to road congestion.
Kochi Port
Being one of the safest harbours in the
A container transshipment facility, known as International Container Transshipment Terminal, Kochi has been commissioned at Vallarpadom. Being constructed in three stages, the first phase of the terminal was commissioned on 11 Feb 2011. This can handle cargo up to one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per annum. On completion of the third phase, the terminal will be able to handle 4 million TEUs of cargo per annum. The terminal is presently being operated by the Dubai Ports World (DPW), which will operate it for 30-years after which the control will come back to the Cochin Port Trust.
The
Airports
Kochi has an international airport, known as the
The city had a second airport, INS Garuda, operated by the Indian Navy, whose southern headquarters is located in Kochi.[24] Commissioned on 11 May 1953, it is the oldest operating air station of the Indian Navy. This airport is however not open to the public, and is solely used by the navy and by important government dignitaries visiting the city. A civilian enclave used to operate here but with the construction of the new airport, most activities have ceased save for the occasional patrols by naval Dornier Do 228 of INAS 550 and regular flights by Naval Helicopters of the 336 and 321 squadrons . A pair of Heron UAV's are also stationed here.
Ferry
Apart from international cruises, domestic ferry and cruises operate in Kochi. Regular inter-island boat services operated by Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC), the state Water Transport Authority, and of private ownership are available from the High Court Jetty and the Ernakulam Central jetty at Park Avenue to various places. The Junkar ferry for the transshipment of vehicles and passengers between the various islands are operated between Ernakulam and Vypin, and between Vypin and Fort Kochi. However, construction of the Goshree bridges (which links Kochi's various islands) has made ferry transport less important. Backwaters cruises are one of the most important tourist activities in the city. KSINC operates large luxury cruise vessel called Sagar-Rani for high seas cruise parties. Apart from KSINC, numerous of private operators provide private cruise vessels for short leisure trips across the backwaters.
Kochi Water Metro, an integrated water transport system which is the first in India was opened to public on 25 April 2023 by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. As of April 2023, 4 stations are in operation.
Railways
At present, there is no intra-city rail transport system in Kochi. The
The
There is a historic station named as
In addition, the Southern Railway is set to start a suburban railway system in Ernakulam, connecting nearby towns and cities by introducing MEMU services. The first MEMU line between Ernakulam and Kollam was opened in 2012[28] and a second one between Ernakulam and Palakkad was started in 2013[29] Other MEMU lines under consideration include Thrissur-Ernakulam and Ernakulam-Kottayam corridors for which work is underway.
Kochi Metro Rail
A rapid transit system, intended to considerably ease congestion was opened to public on 17 June 2017 by
The 11.2-km Phase-II will be from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kaloor to Infopark via Kakkanad at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,017.46 crore.[32]
Distance from Kochi to major cities/towns & tourist centres
City/Town | Distance (km) | City/Town | Distance (km) | City/Town | Distance (km) | City/Town | Distance (km) | City/Town | Distance (km) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ahmedabad | 1881 | Kanyakumari | 307 | Madurai | 270 | Panaji (Goa) | 842 | Tirupati | 730 | |||
Alapuzha |
63 | Kannur | 264 | Malampuzha | 153 | Sabarimala |
211 | Tuticorin | 304 | |||
Bangalore | 533 | Kodaikanal | 330 | Mangalore | 439 | Salem | 358 | Varanasi | 2312 | |||
Chennai | 684 | Kolkata | 2360 | Mumbai | 1384 | Thekkady | 190 | Visakhapatnam | 1432 | |||
Coimbatore | 202 | Kollam | 150 | Munnar | 130 | Thiruvananthapuram | 221 | Mysore | 394 | |||
Delhi | 2594 | Kottayam | 63 | Mysore | 397 | Thrissur | 79 | Patna | 2609 | |||
Guruvayoor | 85 | Kozhikode | 172 | Ooty | 281 | 135 | Tirur | 395 | ||||
Hyderabad | 1095 | Kumarakom | 77 | Palakkad | 163 | Thirunelveli |
286 | Tiruchirappalli (Trichy, Tiruchi) | 395 |
References
- ^ "Kochi Metro Rail". The New Indian Express. 9 May 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
- ^ "Kochi city wins national honour". The Times of India. TNN. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "കൊച്ചി വാട്ടർ മെട്രോ ഏഷ്യയിലെ ആദ്യ സംയോജിത ജലഗതാഗത സംവിധാനം: മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി". ManoramaOnline (in Malayalam). Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ "NS&EW Corridor Map". National Highway Authority of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "NS&EW Corridor Chainage Chart". National Highway Authority of India. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "National Highways and Their Length". Government of India, Ministry of Highways. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
- ^ "Edappally flyover: On your mark ..." The Times of India. TNN. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "Palarivattom Junction flyover: Administrative sanction at last". The Times of India. TNN. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "kochi-seeding-a-city". mtpsnyder. 13 November 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Greeshma Gopal Giri (11 September 2017). "Corporation to focus on public transport". The Times of India.
- ^ "Kochi" (PDF). um-smart.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ The Hindu Business Line : Stone laid for Vytilla mobility hub project Archived 14 December 2010 at WebCite
- ^ The New Indian Express First phase of Vyttila Mobility Hub opened
- ^ The Hindu 'First phase of Vytilla mobility hub commissioned'
- ^ "Trade with India – major ports in India". National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
- ^ "'Spectrum of the Seas' docks with 4000 tourists". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ Kochi Port is the first international cruise home port in India | Kochi Cochin News Archived 25 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "India's lone Marina". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "Kochi International Marina". Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ^ "A novel venture in the history of Indian Aviation". Cochin International Airport. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
- ^ "Traffic Trends". Airports Authority of India. 2006. Government of India.
- ^ "Cochin International Airport set to become worlds's first fully solar powered major airport". LiveMint. Kochi, India. 18 August 2015.
- ^ "How is the world's first solar powered airport faring?". BBC News. 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Indian Navy". Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ Ernakulam Junction (South)/ERS Railway Station – Today's Train Arrival Timings – All Trains – India Rail Info – Database of Indian Railways Trains & Stations Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Final work on new platform after Sabarimala season: Minister Archived 6 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Stop for trains at Edappally, station at Vytilla sought". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010.
- ^ "Ernakulam-Kollam MEMU chugs off". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "Palakkad-Ernakulam MEMU flagged off". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ Special Correspondent (30 May 2013). "10,000 encroachers to get title deeds". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ "For starters, you can catch a Metro every 5 minutes". The Times of India. TNN. 25 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ "Kochi metro to go up to Kakkanad". The Hindu. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.