Transport in Kochi

A Suburban Railway system, intended to considerably ease congestion, is also to be built in the near future.

[1] Kochi bagged the city with most sustainable transport system award instituted by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs in 2021.

[3] Most roads in Kochi are under the control of the city corporation, State PWD and National Highway Authority.

NH 85 is another highway, connecting Kochi with Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu via Munnar and Madurai.

The ever-increasing traffic congestion has necessitated the construction of flyovers at many key junctions on the national highways in Kochi.

Fort Kochi has the maximum number of roads, mostly narrow in nature, due to presence of several heritage properties and thickly populated areas.

The city has a very fast and efficient bus transport system[citation needed], mainly dominated by private operators, known as Red-Buses.

The red buses offer no-frills travel within the city, forming a major backbone of public transport.

CPPR has come up with one-year programme that aims to promote public transport with a research to quantify its impact.

Currently these premium bus services are available as per the schedule published by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation.

There is no routing numbering system, rather all buses carry destination boards with important bus stops marked below.

The city has primarily four major bus stations: To ease congestion within the city limits, a large integrated public transport terminus is planned at Vytilla known as Integrated Mobility Hub,[12] which will act as a converging point for various modes of public transportation like intra-city and long-distance buses, metro rail and boat services.

A shopping mall and commercial towers are planned in the second phase to sustain with additional revenues[citation needed].

Being one of the safest harbours in the Arabian Sea, Kochi ranks among India's major seaports.

The port, administered by a statutory autonomous body known as the Cochin Port Trust, offers facilities like berths for handling cargo and passenger ships, cargo handling equipment, storage accommodation, dry dock, bunkering facilities, and a fisheries harbour.

The service was started in December 2009 and was operated by Louis Cruises with regular trips to Maldives and Sri Lanka.

[19] The marina provides berthing facility for yachts and also offers services like fuel, water, electricity and sewage pump-outs for boats.

The marina is close to the international maritime route at the south west coast of the Indian Peninsula, with favourable conditions and minimum tidal variations throughout the year.

[21] Currently in expansion mode, the airport has been made ready to accommodate the super jumbo Airbus 380.

This airport is however not open to the public, and is solely used by the navy and by important government dignitaries visiting the city.

Regular inter-island boat services operated by Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC), the state Water Transport Authority, and of private ownership are available from the High Court Jetty and the Ernakulam Central jetty at Park Avenue to various places.

However, construction of the Goshree bridges (which links Kochi's various islands) has made ferry transport less important.

Due to the presence of a few cracks on the Venduruthy Railway bridge connecting the mainland with the Willingdon island, the service to this station was temporarily suspended.

A rapid transit system, intended to considerably ease congestion was opened to public on 17 June 2017 by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.

Recently, KMRL (Kochi Metro Rail Limited) has decided to extend the project to Tripunithura in the first phase itself.

It has also been decided that DMRC will build an INR135 crore (US$21 million) flyover at Edappally to ease the traffic congestion.

[31] The 11.2-km Phase-II will be from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kaloor to Infopark via Kakkanad at an estimated cost of Rs.