Kochi: Former Delhi Metro managing director E Sreedharan has urged the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to consider an urban ropeway as an alternative for parts of the city where roads are narrow and metro construction is difficult.
Proposal and route
In a letter addressed to the KMRL managing director on Thursday and accessed by the New Indian Express, Sreedharan recommended an aerial ropeway linking Fort Kochi to Maharaja’s College via Mattancherry and Willingdon Island. He suggested the system could serve both daily commuters and tourists, allowing them to traverse congested corridors while bypassing busy roads below.
Technical and cost arguments
Sreedharan highlighted operational metrics and financial advantages that, he said, favour ropeways in constrained urban areas. He noted that urban ropeways typically achieve ridership of about 5,000–6,000 passengers per hour, and that a ropeway installation would cost roughly one-third of a metro. To support his case, he cited examples of successful urban cable transit systems in Bolivia, Mexico and the recently completed network in Varanasi, and urged KMRL technical personnel to undertake study visits.
“Urban Ropeways are becoming more attractive as the ridership is about 5,000 to 6,000 per hour and roads are not wide enough to install a metro system,” Sreedharan wrote, according to the letter.
Reservations on Aluva–Angamaly extension
Sreedharan also expressed reservations about the proposed Aluva–Angamaly metro extension via Nedumbassery, describing it as “not desirable” in the present context. He pointed to other rail facilities planned to serve the airport as likely to undermine ridership for a metro extension to Angamaly.
- Southern Railway is reported to be opening a new railway station at Nedumbassery Airport.
- The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has proposed a high-speed link from Tripunithura and Palarivattom to the airport with an estimated running time of 10 minutes and a fare of around Rs 100, the letter said.
“If these two additional facilities come, there will be no users for the metro line,” Sreedharan wrote, according to the report, and cited such developments as a reason to reconsider the Aluva–Angamaly alignment.
Alternative metro alignment suggested
Instead of the Aluva–Angamaly extension, Sreedharan recommended KMRL evaluate an elevated metro line from Aroor to Varapuzha via Edappally, following the National Highway bypass. He suggested technical visits to Varanasi, Bolivia and Mexico for KMRL’s technical director to study established ropeway systems and their applicability to Kochi’s topography and urban fabric.
Implications for Kochi
The proposal brings into sharp relief the choices before city planners and transport agencies as Kochi expands its mass-transit network. The ropeway suggestion targets historic, congested precincts such as Fort Kochi and Mattancherry where road widening is impractical and heritage structures constrain at-grade solutions. Conversely, airport connectivity plans being advanced by Southern Railway and DMRC could reshape demand patterns for proposed metro corridors serving Nedumbassery.
| Mode | Reported metric |
|---|---|
| Urban Ropeway | Ridership ~ 5,000–6,000/hr; cost ~ one-third of metro |
| DMRC high-speed rail (proposed) | Running time 10 minutes; approximate fare Rs 100 |
Any decision will require detailed feasibility studies, environmental clearances and stakeholder consultations. KMRL has not been quoted in the letter made available to the press; the merits and limitations of ropeway technology in Kochi will depend on engineering assessments, heritage impact studies for Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, and ridership projections that reflect competing services.
The suggestion from a transport planner of Sreedharan’s stature is likely to prompt technical discussion within KMRL and among civic agencies. For commuters and residents in low-road-width precincts, an aerial option offers a visible alternative to conventional mass-transit thinking, even as airport connectivity projects proceed on multiple fronts.
