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The Centre has approved a new high-speed rail corridor in Kerala, which is expected to improve the state's rail infrastructure significantly. "Metro Man" E Sreedharan will lead the initial planning work, while the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been assigned to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR). According to Sreedharan, the DPR will be completed within nine months.
Approval Received
This decision comes after a meeting between Sreedharan and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi on January 16. Earlier, Sreedharan had also met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and presented the proposal, which received approval from the Chief Minister.
Replacement of Silver Line
The new project will replace the controversial Silver Line plan. Sreedharan explained that the proposed corridor will be very different in both design and execution. He said trains on this route will run every five minutes, stop at stations placed 20 to 25 kilometres apart, and reach speeds of up to 200 km per hour. The project is expected to reduce travel time and improve safety in Kerala, which currently has one of the highest rates of road accidents in the country.
Land Acquisition for the Project
Land acquisition is expected to be much easier than earlier plans. The new corridor will need only about one-third of the land required for SilverLine. Around 70 to 75 per cent of the route will be elevated, with some sections running underground. Land below elevated tracks can be leased back to owners for farming or grazing.
First Phase of the Project
The first phase of the project will run from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur, passing through Kollam and other areas. There are plans to extend the corridor to Kasaragod, Mangaluru, and even Mumbai in the future. The project will be based on the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) model, such as the Delhi-Meerut line, using lighter trains on standard-gauge tracks. While the top speed will be 200 km per hour, the average running speed will be about 135 km per hour, allowing travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur in around three and a half hours.
The estimated cost is ₹1 lakh crore, with funding shared between the Centre (51 percent) and the state (49 percent), following the Konkan Railway model.
