Title - Tenders for Kochi metro rail to be floated soon

DMRC finalising the design for stations With the Centre according its nod for the Kochi metro rail project, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) intends to float tenders within a month for constructing via ducts in the Aluva-Kaloor International Stadium stretch.This stretch was accorded priority since it is sufficiently wide and does not need much land acquisition.“The delay in finalising the alignment for the Edappally flyover is the sole hurdle in this portion.“Once the work on via ducts is awarded a few months from now, the construction work can begin in full earnest for the metro. The tenders for the stretch from the stadium up to Pettah will be floated by the end of August,” said sources associated with the project.Here, the narrow Vytilla-Pettah stretch is the main obstacle. The Town Hall-Kacheripady stretch, the Jos Junction-Ernakulam South railway station road and portions of M G Road have to be widened. The DMRC has awarded the tender to widen the Town Hall-Kacheripady stretch, while the one to widen MG Road was cancelled because of the delay in land acquisition. It is finalising the tender for the coach-maintenance yard at Muttom.The agency had earlier decided to execute the work in three phases (with each span having a length of 8 kms), instead of the two mooted now.As for the piling required for the metro pillars, mono piles will be preferred over multiple piles wherever possible. The advantages include saving space required and also time spent for piling, informed sources said.

They said that the three coaches in each metro train can ferry up to 600 people, since each coach will have a passenger capacity of 200. Three more coaches can be added, based on passenger patronage. The air-conditioned trains will travel in each direction every eight to ten minutes and this will be reduced to a train every three minutes based on the demand from passengers.

As for the speed, a DMRC official said that the trains have been designed so that they have a top speed of 90 kms. “They are likely to ply at an average speed of 40 kms per hour since they have to stop at stations located within a km of each other. A train would cover the 25-km-long Aluva-Pettah distance in around 30 minutes, stopping at each station for less than a minute.

A team of DMRC officials are currently finalising the design for the via ducts and station buildings. Most of the stations will be located at a height and elevators and lifts will take people from the ground floor to the platform.