Ecological Public Transport: Kochi Water Metro has transported four million people since its launch in 2023
When Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal recently jumped in the Kochi Water Metro, it was praise for the service, which connects parts of the city through its intricate network or interior river roads. When writing in the book of visitors, he described the trip as “unique, exciting, comfortable and pleasant.”
The project is a brilliant testimony of India’s ability to combine tradition with innovation, he said. After reviewing the operations, the minister announced his intention to replicate the Kochi Water Metro model in 24 Indian cities, with a special approach in the northeast, including Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tezpur.
Alignment includes both patrimonial cities and modern meters, many of which sit along the underutilized river paths. Improved connectivity is expected to consist of several economic benefits in these cities, partly for their riverside and low -income communities. The measure is also in line with the emphasis of the government in multimodal integration as a sustainable solution for congestion and urban pollution.
Green mobility
Implemented by the Kerala government, the Kochi Water Metro, the first public water transport system in its third year of operations. With around 19 battery ships in service in the main terminals of the city, to date it has transported about four million passengers and has attributed the uphill expansion plans.
Loknath Beuera, managing director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd
Loknath Beare, managing director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), says that the service offers a unique travel experience marked by comfort, scenic beauty and ecological mobility. Visitors’ records in several terminals are full of testimonies that reflect public appreciation and enthusiasm for urban water transport service. The World Bank has also expressed interest in associating with the Water Metro initiative, which finally aims to connect the 10 island communities of Kochi with the continent through a fleet of battery operated boats.
KMRL has completed a feasibility study for the launch of a meter of water in Mumbai, at the request of the Maharashtra government. The project now expects the approval of the Cabinet of the Union. KMRL carries out similar viability studies in 21 urban centers in 11 states: Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Goa, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Western Bengala, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh; and two territories of the Union: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Beera points out that the water metro systems would introduce sustainability in public transport services, the most comfortable roads at an affordable cost and reduce travel time.
Varied approaches
On the challenges involved in the replication of the Kochi Water Metro project in other parts of the country, Beuere explains that the different types of water bodies require different approaches and technology. For example, ships deployed in Kochi are not feasible to Mumbai’s waters, he says.
The states covered by viability studies are excited about the possibility of integrating navigable water bodies with other transport site, he says. Kochi Water Metro, for example, is linked through food bus services to subway trains. Studies evaluate the quality and flow of the water body, population density in surrounding areas, possible coupling places, traffic data and propulsion viability. Interested parties consultations are heroes in each proponated site, and tenders have a bone problem to support traffic studies, he says.
Regarding the income profit potential, he says: “We are not thinking in terms of income, we think it is important. We are planning in such a way that the income of unadfly boxes is incorporated from the planning internship.”
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Posted on May 18, 2025
