page_title: E. Sreedharan
section_title: Kochi Metro
hierarchical_section_title: E. Sreedharan / Finished projects / Kochi Metro
caption_attribution_description: English: A model of a metro rail station developed by DMRC for the Kochi metro.
context_page_description: Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is an Indian civil engineer and a retired IRSE officer popularly known as the "Metro Man". He is credited for changing the face of public transport in India with his leadership in building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro while he served as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail corporation DMRC between 1995 and 2012. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2005 by the French government and was named one of Asia's Heroes by TIME magazine in 2003. Sreedharan was appointed by the former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve on the United Nations's High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport for a period of three years in 2015. He is also a member of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. He attributes his exemplary success to the principles learnt from Bhagwad Gita.
context_section_description: After his retirement from DMRC, Sreedharan has been appointed as Principal Advisor of the Kochi Metro Rail Project. Initially, the project faced hurdles when a controversy broke out with the government announcing a global tender process for Kochi Metro, rather than letting DMRC handle the consultancy and project execution as Sreedharan and DMRC had initially asked for. Vested interests in the government have been alleged in this decision. However, several political parties came out in opposition of the move, and backed Sreedharan's decision in enforcing DMRC's role in the Kochi Metro, after which the government reversed its stance. Kochi metro was finally unveiled on 17 June 2017 amidst much celebrations. The unveiling of the metro was considered a landmark event in India in terms of completion time, control systems used and initiatives such as employing transgender people, vertical gardening, respecting migrant labourers, and use of solar power.
caption: Model of Kochi Metro rail station
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