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Took a ride on Kochi's water metro: Experience & report

2nd November 2023, 16:18 by Rahul Nagaraj

The Kochi Water Metro is expected to boost the growth and development of Kochi by connecting 10 islands around the city.

BHPian FueledbyFury recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been surfing through the forum in commercial vehicles, and I have wondered why there was no thread based on Kochi's water metro even though its operation started in April 2023. It was one fine Saturday morning, we have given our car for the periodic service in the ASS in Kochi. So along with my father, we have a lot of time to kill. Initially, we planned to roam around through the streets of Kochi, until my father mentioned he hadn't been on the Kochi water metro. So we boarded a private bus to Vypin to get a ride in the water metro. Upon reaching Vypin, we see the beauty of Kochi arriving on her jetty.

Kochi is mostly surrounded by backwaters and bordered by the Arabian Sea. It is interconnected by hundreds of waterways, which offers a way to make the public transport system much more accessible and environmentally friendly. The Kochi Water Metro is expected to boost the growth and development of Kochi by connecting 10 islands around the city. It will also boost tourism and replace the ferry services operated by the Kerala Water Transport Department with modern facilities. Water Metro is expected to solve the travel issues of the islanders of Willington, Kumbalam Vypeen, Edakochi, Nettoor, Vyttila, Eloor, Kakkanad, and Mulavukad. Initially, in the first phase, the water metro strategy sailed on two routes, High Court to Vypin and Vyttilla to Kakkanad with eight electric boats.

Technical Specifications

Water Metro features an aluminium catamaran hull design with a length of 24 meters, and twin screw propulsion will be able to run on lithium-titanium oxide-based batteries as well as diesel fuel. The boats will operate at a draft of 0.9 m and be able to achieve a speed of 8kt on electric power and 10kt on diesel. its capacity for 100 passengers, 50 of which will be seated. The ferry is equipped with a Siemens electric propulsion system that draws power from a DNV-approved Echandia Marine 122kWh lithium-titanium oxide (LTO) battery pack, which, when fully charged, can enable it to sail for up to one hour. Alternatively, the vessel can run on power generated by the onboard diesel generator sets as well as in hybrid mode, which utilizes the generators in conjunction with the batteries. a ramp facility for the physically handicapped, a feeding chamber for mothers, mobile recharge facilities, and a charging facility for boat jetties. Safety measures such as an automatic boat locating system and a passenger control system are also in place.

General Details

Hull Material: Aluminium
Superstructure Material: Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP)
Material: CONCRETE
Core: Expanded polystyrene (EPS)
Size: 20m X 4.8m (for 100 pax boats) & 15m X 4m (for 50 pax boats)
Vessel Type: Passenger Ferry
NAV EQUIP: Radar, Thermal Camera, ABLS, Echo Sounder, DMR, CCTV
Classification: Dual Class (DNV-GL & IRS)
DNV: +1A, IN(1,2) METRO FERRY BATTERY POWER)
IRS: +IWL, +IY, ZONE2, FERRY

DIMENSIONS

Length OA: 24.8 m
Beam (OA): 6.4 m
Depth (MLD): 1.7 m
Draft(MLD): 0.9m

PERFORMANCE

Design Speed (Hybrid Mode):10 Knots
Service Speed (Electric Mode): 8 Knots
Service Speed (Diesel): 8 Knots

PROPULSION SYSTEM

Type Hybrid Twin Screw
Diesel Generators 2 x 40 KW
Propellers Ni-Al bronze

BATTERY

Type: lithium-titanium oxide (LTO)
Capacity: 120 KWh

Charging

OKAYA has installed the First Super Charger (150 kW CCS2) for Water Metro. With the help of two chargers the water metro gets fully charged in 15 mins. Duration of operation from one single charge is 1 Hrs

Ticket/Fare Charges

The minimum ticket price of the metro system is 20 rupees and the maximum ticket charge is 40 rupees. The weekly pass is available at 180 rupees whereas the monthly pass costs 600 rupees and the quarterly pass costs 1500 rupees. Single journey tickets and various travel passes are available from the ticket counters in the terminals. Water Metro can be accessed using the Kochi Metro One card. It is also possible to travel using the mobile QR code booked through the Kochi One app.

Upon completion, the water metro will stretch over 76 km with 78 boats and 38 terminals, servicing six panchayats and three municipalities