A monthly News Letter from the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd

Kochi Metro brings you a month's exciting happenings in a condensed format.

a) Kochi Metro flagged off this year's World Women's Day celebrations on March 7th, a day prior to the annual event. The occasion was graced by the presence of Padmasree Smt. Meenakshi Amma, better known as Meenakshi Gurukkal. The team commemorated the Kalari legend, who is an inspiration to all Malayalees and women in Kerala.
Meenakshi Amma also took a ride in Kochi Metro from Aluva to Maharaja's and interacted with the women staffs and operators at stations. Shri. Mohammed Hanish, MD, KMRL addressed the gathering of women staff of KMRL at Ernakulam office.

b) KMRL proved that Women's Day isn't just about giving away roses and accolades to women achievers and that it shouldn't be confined to a single day. On 8 March, International Women's Day, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd went beyond the call of duty and celebrated womanhood by gifting a few basic amenities to our female passengers and staff. Shri. Mohammed Hanish, MD KMRL, visited Edappally Metro station and inaugurated the Feeding Room, Diaper Changing facility and Sanitary Napkin vending machines at the station and interacted with the female staff of KMRL.
The women power of Kochi Metro also interacted with passengers and took their feedbacks and reviews on Kochi Metro and its facilities. A happy Wonderful Women badge was also distributed to women passengers on the day.

KMRL became the first metro agency in India to adopt an open data approach to improve accessibility to its services. Information on schedules, stops, routes, fares, etc. in the universally accepted General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) standard is available on KMRL's website. The historic launch was done by Shri. Manoj Nair CEO, Smart City, in the presence of Shri. A P M Mohammed Hanish, MD KMRL, Dr. O P Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, and Mr. Madhav Pai, Director, Sustainable Cities, WRI India, on 16 March at KMRL Ernakulam office.

1. On 13th March, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., Kochi Municipal Corporation and Cochin Smart Mission Ltd jointly with Agence Francaise de Developpment (AFD) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) organised a participatory workshop at Hotel Holiday Inn with all relevant stakeholders to design a roadmap for the German-French support to urban mobility.

2. Historic photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner, Nick Ut, paid a visit to Kochi Metro on 15 March. He took a ride from Edappally to Maharajas College, and expressed his joy in having visited the picturesque state of Kerala.

3. The second day of Urban Mobility Workshop was held at Hotel Holiday Inn, Kochi, on 16 March. KMRL MD Shri. Mohammed Hanish inaugurated the sessions. The participants included elected representatives, Municipal chairpersons, town planners, engineers, MVD Officials, Civil Society Groups, students, etc. The Workshop was graced by the presence of Shri. OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, Shri. Madhav Pai, India Director, Director Sustainable Cities, WRI India and Shri. Pawan Mulukutla, Head Integrated Transport, WRI India.

4. Angelika Zwicky, Project Manager - Transport Economist, Urban Development and Mobility, KfW Bankengruppe, visited Kochi to review the progress of the Water Metro Project. Mr. Martin Nybo, KfW shipbuilding expert, accompanied her in the mission. The KfW team held meetings with KMRL MD Mohammed Hanish and other senior officials on 21 March and also visited a few proposed jetties, including Ernakulam Jetty, Thevara, Nettoor, and Vyttila.

The third edition of the monthly campaign was held at Lalan Tower on 28 March. The event themed 'Women and Public Transport' included a panel discussion on 'Going Places: Safety, Comfort and Convenience of Women in Public Transport' comprising eminent women in the society. Campaigners marched from Rainbow Bridge, Marine Drive, to Lalan Tower at High Court Junction holding placards to spread the message of promoting public transport and safe, accessible and convenient transport for women.

'Shreshtasanchari Puraskaram' was also awarded to four metro passengers with highest patronage in the month of March. Kochi Public Transport Day is a monthly campaign jointly organised by KMRL and Centre for Public Policy Research to promote public transportation in the city.