Passengers travelling in a compartment of the Kerala Green Express in Mumbai. All the four compartments of the train carry images showing the landscapes and greenery of Kerala’s beaches, backwaters and hill stations on the outside and inside.
By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Commuters on the new Mumbai Metro can now experience the flavour of Kerala with the southern state’s tourism board inking a deal to “run” a ‘Kerala Green Express’ on its network.
“The Kerala Green Express began running on the Mumbai Metro’s Versova-Ghatkopar corridor on Monday and will do so for the next three months,” Kerala Tourism said in a statement here yesterday.
All the four compartments of the train carry images showing beautiful landscapes and greenery of Kerala’s beaches, backwaters and hill stations on the outside and inside.
The Mumbai Metro carries more than half a million passengers every day. The Kerala branded trains will travel a stretch of 11km, passing through 12 elevated stations on the Versova-Ghatkopar line.
The entire journey between Versova and Ghatkopar takes 21 minutes to complete, with a train running every 3.5 minutes. All the coaches are air-conditioned, offering a comfortable travelling experience.
“We are proud to be associated with Mumbai’s brand new metro network,” said Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar. “We are also privileged to be the first destination in India to promote tourism through the new metro in the country’s commercial capital.”
Kerala Tourism had earlier promoted its destinations on several iconic establishments like the famous London taxis. The board had also done a campaign promotion wrapping Rajdhani train - the longest distance running train in India - with Kerala images.
Kerala receives more than 10mn domestic tourists every year, and less than a million foreign holidaymakers.
The tourism authorities expect the branding to expose a mammoth number of people using the Mumbai metro every day to the state’s unique offerings to visitors.
The branding includes wall panels and wall strips carrying messages such as ‘One of the 10 Paradises of the World,’ a reference to the accolade bestowed on Kerala by the National Geographic Traveller almost a decade back.
“It is a prestigious association for us because the Mumbai Metro is fast emerging as an iconic feature of Mumbai,” said Tourism Director P I Sheikh Pareeth.
The Mumbai Metro was launched in June this year.