Kochi metro’s airport extension could be a metro-lite system

The facility can be readied at less than half the capital expense of a conventional metro

The Centre’s approval for the Kochi metro’s second-phase extension to Kakkanad (Infopark) is in the “final stage”. But a metro-lite network is more probable for the third-phase extension mooted from the metro’s Aluva terminal station to the international airport at Nedumbassery in Ernakulam district, participants said at the director board meeting of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) held online on Thursday. Metro-lite system is preferred worldwide, especially in European cities, since it can be readied at less than half the capital expense of a conventional metro. They can be ‘at grade’ (at the ground level, like a tramway) or even elevated, but with a much lighter viaduct than the metro, official sources said. The Centre is non-committal about sanctioning a conventional metro, although the district administration said land acquisition for the Kakkanad extension would be completed by December.