Nearly 450 children with disabilities, many of whom had never seen a Metro before, got to be the first in Kochi to experience it on Sunday.The Metro will be thrown up to the general public on Monday morning.
On Saturday morning, nearly 450 children with physical and cognitive disabilities from 43 special schools, as well as children from orphanages and elderly persons from old age homes along the route – 1,550 people in all – were invited to be the first public passengers on the newly opened Metro. As part of the gesture, the KMRL ran multiple trains from Palarivattom to Aluva from 10am to around 11.30am, to give these special passengers the first experience of the Metro.
Riding along with them on some of the trips were Health Minister KK Shailaja and actor and State Award winner Rejisha Vijayan.
There was plenty of excitement and joy on display, as many children, who had never heard of a Metro got to experience it first-hand. Rahul, a student at the KRIPA Special School in Aluva, for instance, said, ““I did not know what a Metro was till our teacher showed us the picture. I love travelling in it, and I will come again.” For these special passengers, the Sneha Yatra was doubly exciting because they were the first residents of Kochi to be experiencing the new Metro. As 70-year-old Parvathy Amma said, “Nobody has ever taken us out like this, and we are so happy that they considered us. Our prayers will always be with them.” What was also heartening for the differently-abled passengers on the train was the ease with which they were able to negotiate their way through it all. As Lalu, a 40-year-old teacher at Kripa Bhavan said, “We have limitations that keep us from travelling on buses or trains. But we are very happy that the metro lets us travel with ease.