Kochi MetroKochi: It is official. The Rs 5,200-crore Kochi Metro is getting "Marana Mass" treatment.
A day before the metro is thrown open to the public, authorities are flooded with inquiries for mass booking, indicating a surge in revenues in the initial two months when the curiosity factor remains in play.
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The catch is that there is no option as of now for mass bookings, metro being a public transport system.
“We are being flooded with mass booking inquiries from schools, colleges and corporate offices,” an official of the Kochi Metro told Onmanorama.
The KMRL authorities would really need to seriously apply a thought on how to exploit this mass enthusiasm.
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The KMRL sources said they expected ticket sales to cross Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh in the initial days.
The metro would run services with six trains initially. Each train would have three coaches and a train would have a full capacity of 975 passengers.
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Authorities say if the services are extended till Thrippunithura in a time-bound manner, a revenue of Rs 60 crore a year is likely to accrue from ticket sales.
A metro real estate project is also on the cards in Kakkanad NGO Quarters, which is expected to fetch Rs 300 crore to the fledgling KMRL.
A metro village is also under consideration in Muttom, where the yard of KMRL is located.
Authorities also hope to rake in money from advertisements in stations and on trains, revenue from ATMs, Kochi One Debit card and parking. The Kochi One debit card is being brought out in association with private sector lender Axis Bank.
After the integration of the Water Metro and feeder services, Kochi One would work as a travel card as well as debit card that can be used in all Kochi Metro-related services.
Axis Bank will offer a certain percentage of commission that accrues from the use of Kochi One to KMRL.
This is apart from the royalty of Rs 200 crore that the Kochi Metro would get from Axis Bank for 10 years.
The Kochi One card was launched by prime minister Narendra Modi Saturday.
