Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday flagged off the second stretch of Kochi Metro from Palarivattom to Maharaja’s College Ground.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said his Government was keen to complete the 25km metro line project up to Petta at the earliest. He said the extension of metro rail to Kakkanad, the IT hub of the State, would also be taken up.

Vijayan also mentioned about the demand for extending the metro rail to Nedumbassery International Airport from Aluva and said the Government would consider the proposal. He sought Centre’s support and cooperation for the completion of the metro up to Petta and from there to Tripunithura.

Addressing the gathering Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri urged the State Government to complete the remaining stretch quickly. “With the commissioning of the five kilo metre stretch today, the operation of metro rail in the country has come to 383 km. “Construction of another 520km is in progress and are in different stages,” the Minister said and expressed confidence that in the next two years, total metro rail operations in India would touch 600 km.

Metro Rail Project Advisor E. Sreedharan, State Transport Minister Thomas Chandy, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and several others were present.

The five kilo metre stretch (crossing five stations) would be covered in 10 minutes.