Electric, hydrogen-run buses to operate feeder trips from metro stations – EQ Mag Pro
A fleet of 200 e-autos too is expected shortly
Aimed at ushering in a mode of sustainable feeder network from Kochi metro corridor, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is readying to launch a fleet of e-buses.
They include nine e-buses on lease, on the lines of what KSRTC has mooted. In addition, discussions are under way to purchase a total of 10 e-buses. The option of augmenting this by adding a fleet of hydrogen-cell-powered buses is being probed. The feasibility of procuring 10 such buses for operation too is under consideration, in keeping with the government’s efforts to ensure that all public transport vehicles operate on renewable sources of energy by 2030, it is learnt.
The electric and hydrogen-cell powered buses are expected to operate from metro stations to Kochi’s immediate suburbs.
Inadequate services
The development comes in the wake of the metro agency facing flak for not introducing a full-fledged feeder network involving e-buses and e-autorickshaws, over four years since the metro, a capital-intensive system of mass rapid transport (MRT), was launched. This is in addition to the metro attracting an average of only around 70,000 passengers daily during pre-pandemic days, as compared to the projected daily footfall of approximately four lakh that finds mentions in its DPR.
Public transport experts reasoned that a daily footfall of over a lakh was attainable, if there was a reliable network of feeder services to ensure last-mile connectivity.
The State government had in October sanctioned ₹10 crore to KMRL to procure 10 hydrogen fuel cell-based buses on wet lease to operate feeder services from metro stations. The metro agency ought to ensure adequate supply of hydrogen for the purpose. The Union government had launched a Hydrogen Energy Mission to generate hydrogen from green-power sources.
e-autos
The metro agency is, in addition, readying to procure 200 e-autorickshaws for operating feeder trips. This comes in the wake of delay in augmenting the fleet of a dozen e-rickshaws that were introduced from prominent metro stations in 2018.
An initiative to induct 100 e-autorickshaws in 2020 to operate from metro stations was a non-starter, after the pandemic played spoilsport with the logistics sector.
Source: thehindu
