Call to reintroduce ferry in Fort Kochi-Vypeen corridor gathers momentum

Agitation grows for reintroduction of Fort Queen ferry amid traffic chaos in Kochi, demanding relief for commuters.

The clamour to reintroduce Fort Queen, a 150-passenger capacity ferry owned by the Kochi Corporation from Fort Kochi to either Vypeen or Bolgatty has gathered momentum, in the wake of worsening traffic snarls on roads leading from the city to West Kochi owing to the month-long closure of the two-km-long Kundannoor bridge by the Public Works department for resurfacing.

Making matters worse, one of the two roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferries that operated on the Vypeen-Fort Kochi route has been withdrawn from service following technical snag.

The Vypeen-Fort Kochi Passengers’ Association that has been in the forefront of the agitation demanding the introduction of a third ro-ro ferry in the corridor, demanded that Fort Queen that had been idling for the past several months be deployed on the stretch to lessen the woes of commuters in the corridor.

“The withdrawal of one of the two ro-ro ferries, that too when the Kundannoor bridge was closed down for repair, has come as a bolt from the blue for commuters in the ever-busy corridor. In this situation, the Corporation must deploy Fort Queen in the corridor. It can call at the jetty in Vypeen which was once used by KSINC ferries, considering the inadequate berthing space near the ro-ro jetty,” said Francis Chammany, president of the association.

Citing the Corporation’s inability to operate Fort Queen owing to the need to carry out extensive repair works on the vessel, sources in the agency said it was withdrawn from service since there was little demand for it when it had been deployed a few times to lessen congestion in the Vypeen-Fort Kochi corridor, until a year ago. In this situation, commuters could make optimal use of ferries operated by the State Water Transport department and the Kochi Water Metro in the Ernakulam-Fort Kochi corridor.

The Maradu municipality has, in the meantime, invited applications from boat operators to ply ferries in the Netoor-Thevara corridor, to cater for commuters who have been affected by closure of Kundannoor bridge.