Industries Minister P. Rajeeve flagging off Metro Connect, the electric feeder buses of the Kochi metro, on Wednesday. 

Industries Minister P. Rajeeve flagged off Metro Connect, the electric feeder buses of the Kochi metro, on Wednesday.

The buses will begin service on the Aluva-Airport and Kalamassery routes from Thursday. The service will be extended to other routes in a phased manner.

Four of the 15 buses will operate on the Aluva-airport route, running every 20 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes during off-peak hours, from 6:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. The buses will also be operated on the Kalamassery-Government Medical College Hospital route (every 30 minutes from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.), High Court-M.G. Road circular route (every 10 minutes from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.), Kadavanthra-KP Vallon Road-Panampilly Nagar circular route (every 25 minutes from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and Kakkanad Water Metro terminal-Infopark/KINFRA Park/ collectorate routes (every 25 minutes from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

Passenger amenities available in metro trains will be available in the buses too. There will also be mobile charging units, according to a communication.

In his address, Mr. Rajeeve said enough land could not be acquired for parking facilities for the metro project. The feeder buses would ensure last-mile connectivity, which would benefit the metro project and passengers, he added.

Projects in Kalamassery

The Minister said Kalamassery would witness a host of development activities shortly. The new block of the Government Medical College Hospital will be inaugurated soon. The design of the upcoming Judicial City project has been given in-principle approval. The Sea Port-Airport Road project has become a priority project. A ₹900-crore logistics project would also come up in the region.

Hibi Eden, MP; K.N. Unnikrishnan and Anwar Sadath, MLAs; Seema Kannan, Kalamassery municipal chairperson; and Loknath Behera, managing director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, were present on the occasion.