First pier cap of Kochi metro’s ‘Pink Line’ launched near Infopark

The first pier cap of the Kochi metro’s 11.20-km-long Kakkanad extension (christened ‘Pink Line’) was launched on Thursday (August 28, 2025), atop pillar number 281 near Infopark.

The 80-tonne pier cap that was cast at the yard of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) in Kalamassery was launched with the help of a heavy-duty crane. In the coming days, pier caps will be launched atop three other adjacent pillars, up to pillar number 284, metro sources said.

Altogether, 22 pillars have been built on the proposed alignment, while a total of 898 piles have been readied. A total of 56 pier caps, 64 U-girders, and 30 I-girders have been readied so far at the casting yard, they said, adding that efforts were on to make up for the delay in executing the metro’s Kakkanad extension.

Revised deadline

As per schedule, five stations on the proposed metro viaduct would be ready by June 2026, while the entire 11.20-km viaduct and all the nine stations (including the five that would be ready by June) en route would be ready by December 2026. Once the pier caps are launched, the launch of girders would commence from September in the corridor that leads to Infopark, they said.

The first pier cap for the Kochi metro’s Kakkanad extension being placed atop pillar number 281 near Infopark.
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There is, however, some concern over issues related to acquiring land for stations at Chembumukku and Padamugal.

Loan delay

Even as KMRL sources said that they were confident of adhering to the December 2026 deadline to complete the work on the ₹1,957-crore metro extension, uncertainty prevails over sourcing loan worth approximately ₹1,200 crore from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for the project. It had been reported that this was among the reasons for the delay in executing the metro extension.

The State government is reportedly yet to approve the loan proposal and forward it to the Centre, although KMRL’s director board approved it over a year ago, it is learnt.

Timely sanctioning of the loan is critical to make prompt payments to contractors in order to complete the capital intensive project at least as per the revised schedule, sources said.

The delay in getting the loan had led to a slowdown in piling activity for months together, resulting in barricaded but ‘idling’ work sites on Civil Line Road and other stretches through which the extension’s viaduct is to be built.