Kazhakkoottam to Pappanamcode in 15 minutes; Metro dream becoming reality

The government approved the first phase of the Metro Rail project, which will accelerate the future development of the city of Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier, it took decades for a major project to get completed after approval. In this era of highly advanced technology and construction methods, any major project can be completed swiftly. It is expected that this project will be started soon, as the necessary central approvals for the Metro project are obtained. This project is expected to facelift the city and add Thiruvananthapuram to the ranks of the most prominent cities in South India.

The first phase will start from Pappanamcode and end at Eanchakkal. There will be 27 stations within a distance of 31 km. The Centre had suggested that the alignment should also include the airport and the railway station. Considering this, the alignment was decided near the airport and Kochuveli railway station. It is a relief that bustling centres that often see traffic in Thiruvananthapuram are included in the alignment.

It would be ill-advised to delve into the profit/loss of the service would bring. The Delhi Metro initially ran at a loss but has now morphed into a lifeline of transportation for the citizens in the national capital. The biggest feature is that the metro rail system will be able to eliminate the pollution caused by the city's heavy vehicular traffic and the congestion of four-wheelers on the roads. If the number of vehicles going to Technopark and the railway station gets cut by half, it would be nothing short of a relief to the city.

The first phase of the metro rail project in the capital was approved after overcoming many uncertainties and hurdles. Even the alignment of the project, which was conceived during the Oommen Chandy government, was finally decided after 11 years. It started with monorail, later waltzed to light metro and now reached at metro rail service. It was deemed that the capital city, with a burgeoning population, would be an ideal location to introduce the metro. The light metro can only accommodate a maximum of 15,000 passengers. But the metro rail can carry up to 40,000 passengers per hour.

It would be 'jumping the gun' to predict the metro covering all the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram in the coming years. In a normal case, it would take a passenger nearly one and a half hours to travel between Kazhakkoottam and Pappanamcode, as there is a need to switch two buses. This time will be reduced to ten to fifteen minutes. The situation of getting stuck in traffic and missing trains, and flights will also be eliminated. The metro will also provide many new job opportunities for the youth of the city. It is currently expected that the metro rail will be completed in Thiruvananthapuram by 2029 for 8000 crores.