Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has submitted a recommendation to the state government to rename the company Keralam Metro Rail Limited, the managing director Loknath Behera has said. The proposed rebranding is intended to enable the company to plan and implement urban transport projects across the state rather than remaining city centric. Behera sought in-principle approval for the change and said the proposal aligns with the company's expanding remit.

KMRL has completed the first phase from Aluva to Tripunithura and is operating at a profit, Behera said. He added that the second phase, running from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Smart City, will be completed in a year and is an ongoing 10.58-km elevated corridor with 10 stations targeted for commercial commissioning by August 2027. The extension to Tripunithura was inaugurated in March 2024 and Phase I and its extensions are fully operational.

The company is also undertaking the Kochi Water Metro and electric mobility projects and is involved in metro projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, Behera noted. KMRL framed the proposed new name on the national model followed when Nagpur Metro was reorganised as Maharashtra Metro, Lucknow Metro as Uttar Pradesh Metro and Ahmedabad Metro as Gujarat Metro. Behera indicated that the final name change would require approvals from the board of directors, shareholders, the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Central Government.

Officials said the change of name would not affect current assets, liabilities, contracts, employees or the legal existence of the company. KMRL is pursuing non-motorised transport initiatives to add footpaths, cycle tracks and last-mile bicycle sharing near stations and has started feeder buses, taxis and autorickshaws, preferably electric or CNG. The authority has planned a public bike sharing pilot with four docking stations and seven cycles at each station as part of integrated urban mobility planning.