Kochi | To accommodate the huge rush of commuters and joy riders on the Kochi Water Metro, which has witnessed a rise in daily ridership over the past few days, KWML on Thursday said it would be increasing the number of trips on its Vyttila-Kakkanad route.

Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) has been operating services only on two routes -- first between Kerala High Court and Vypin and then Vyttila to Kakkanad -- presently.

On the second route, it was operating boats only during peak hours, from 8 AM to 11 AM and 4 PM to 7 PM.

"From today, the number of services on this route has been increased. Feeder buses and auto rickshaws will be available from Kakkanad terminal to Civil Station and Infopark," KWML said in a statement.

According to the schedule of the increased services released by KWML, boats would be operated every 45 minutes from 7.45 AM to 1 PM from Vyttila terminal and from 8.25 AM to 1.40 PM from Kakkanad.

In the afternoon too, after 3 PM, boats would be operated every 45 minutes from both terminals, it said.

The Kochi Water Metro was inaugurated on April 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it commenced operations on its first route, between Kerala High Court and Vypin, on April 26.

The second route between Vyttila and Kakkanad became operational on April 27.

On April 30 and May 1, the total ridership on the water metro's two routes had crossed 10,000.