Kochi Water Metro carried 15,507 passengers on Mahanavami, recording one of its strongest single-day performances and extending a holiday-season surge in demand for the city’s water-based public transport system, according to Malayala Manorama – Kochi.
The High Court–Fort Kochi route recorded the highest passenger movement on the day. Passenger numbers had also reached 11,074 on October 21, indicating strong usage during the Pooja holiday period.
The latest figure is below the network’s all-time daily record of 17,050 passengers, recorded on December 28, 2025, during the Christmas-New Year season. Other high-ridership days include December 31, 2023, when 16,162 people travelled on the system, and December 27, 2025, when the network carried 15,518 passengers.
The Mahanavami figure therefore ranks among the highest daily passenger totals since the service began. It is also the strongest performance outside the Christmas-New Year records listed in the report, placing the Pooja holiday period among the water metro’s most active travel seasons.
Kochi Water Metro began services in April 2023. Since its launch, 7,929,051 passengers have used the system, the report said. The cumulative figure covers journeys made across the network since operations started and highlights the system’s growing role in connecting areas across Kochi’s waterways.
The passenger data also points to the importance of specific routes in driving network usage. The High Court–Fort Kochi corridor led travel on Mahanavami, although the report did not provide a route-wise passenger breakdown or explain whether the increase was linked mainly to tourism, holiday travel, daily commuting or a combination of factors.
The new milestone comes as Kochi’s public transport system continues to include a mode designed around the city’s geography. Unlike conventional road-based services, the Water Metro uses waterways to connect terminals and island communities. Its passenger performance is consequently influenced by holiday movement as well as the availability and convenience of services on individual routes.
The reported figures do not establish whether the recent increase represents a permanent change in average daily demand. The available information covers the October 21 and Mahanavami passenger counts, historical peak-day records and total ridership since launch, but does not include a longer-term daily or monthly comparison.
The next benchmark for Kochi Water Metro will be whether passenger traffic during the remainder of the holiday period approaches the network’s existing daily record. For now, the 15,507 journeys on Mahanavami place the system among its busiest recorded operating days since the April 2023 launch.
