With Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) submitting the detailed project report for the metro’s airport extension to the State government, stakeholders have sought steps to extend the alignment further to Angamaly to decongest the town, where traffic snarls are the norm.

The Aluva-Angamaly NH 544 stretch, with numerous bottlenecks at junctions, is among the most congested of the NH stretches in Keralam.

Railway station

A senior metro official spoke of how people’s representatives from Angamaly expressed their keenness to further extend the metro from the airport to the Angamaly railway station (which also borders the private bus stand). “This would be in keeping with the Centre’s policy to interconnect metro rail systems with other modes of public transport.”

Highlighting the need to connect the metro with the Angamaly railway station, Davis B.O., secretary of Angamaly-Kalady-Athani Bus Operators’ Association, said it would help link the metro with the proposed Sabari rail network (that begins from the Angamaly railway station). “The advantage is that the railway station is located next door to the private bus stand, while it is just 1.50 km away from Angamaly town. Rail and bus passengers from Thrissur and other areas north of Angamaly would thus be able to shift to the metro from here to commute to Aluva and Kochi city. It will also considerably benefit commuters from nearby towns like Perumbavoor,” he said.

P.V. Paulson, chairperson of Indian Institute of Materials Management Cochin branch, suggested that the terminal station for the metro’s airport extension be built at Karayamparambu, located north of Angamaly town on NH 544.

“It must also be kept in mind that the proposed 50-km Kochi Outer Ring Road that the National Highways Authority of India has mulled would connect Aroor with Karayamparambu. The metro could thus be extended from the airport to Karayamparambu through Josepuram. This would ensure considerable savings on land acquisition since the metro viaduct could be built mainly through paddy fields — most of which are now fallow. The metro could even be extended to Karukutty on NH 544,” he said.