Semi-high-speed trains operating at an average speed of 125 km per hour will be able to cover the approximately 420-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur distance in three-and-a-half hours through standard gauge tracks in another six years, technocrat and former railway engineer E. Sreedharan said on Friday.
The trains would be able to attain a maximum speed of 200 kmph and would halt at approximately 15 stations, one located every 30 km. The alignment would differ from that of the 530-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod SilverLine semi-high-speed-rail project mooted by K-Rail which had stations every 60 km. The alignment would largely adhere to the one proposed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in its detailed project report (DPR) submitted to the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2015 for the Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur high-speed rail corridor, he told The Hindu over phone.
Reason for stations
He cited the need for stations every 30 km, considering the high density of population in Kerala and the high demand for trains like Vande Bharat Express. This would in turn improve patronage for the trains in the proposed corridor. The necessity for stations at such short distances makes a high-speed rail corridor impractical for the State.
Elaborating on the benefits of an alignment with a right mix of elevated and underground tracks, he said this would bring down land acquisition to one-fifth of what was envisaged for the SilverLine project which relied heavily on embankments (which in turn raised concerns of flooding). This would also help save thousands of houses and other structures from being demolished.
“The project can be realised for ₹1 lakh crore in six years. It would be financially viable if the State and Centre pooled ₹30,000 crore each, while the balance ₹40,000 crore could be raised as loan,” he said.
‘Either DMRC or Railways’
Reiterating that he would help the State in readying the railway project, Mr. Sreedharan, who retired from service as Principal Adviser of the DMRC, said he would be associated with the preparation of the DPR if the government entrusted the metro agency with the work. “The K-Rail [Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL)] is not equipped to execute a project of this scale which only the DMRC and Railways are capable of doing. I can provide guidance, although getting involved in the implementation will be tough at my age (93 years),” he said. The DMRC could complete the project in six years, while the Railway might take up to nine years and the K-Rail many times the time period, he said, adding that he could help the project get Central approval.
Citing the rationale for preferring standard gauge to broad gauge, he said this would help integrate the project with two high-speed rail projects recommended in India’s railway master plan — the Chennai-Bengaluru-Coimbatore-Kochi corridor and the Mangaluru-Mumbai corridor through Konkan.
‘No response from govt.’
On the State government’s response to a project note that he gave on Monday after its representative in New Delhi and former MP K.V. Thomas met him at his house in Ponnani on Sunday, Mr. Sreedharan said neither Prof. Thomas nor the government had responded so far. “I am ready to meet the Chief Minister if the government is keen. I told Prof. Thomas that the SilverLine project that failed to get sanction from the Railway Board would leave a huge footprint in the form of environmental impact, the huge cost of land acquisition and the resistance to massive displacement of people,” he said.
‘Imperative for progress’
“I suggested a new north-south rail corridor that is imperative for the State’s progress, considering that the existing rail lines are saturated and the alarming situation due to over 4,000 people dying in road accidents every year in the State. I also explained how the DPR that the DMRC prepared for the high-speed rail corridor could be built upon to realise a semi-high-speed network. Moreover, land is needed at 20-metre width only in the construction stage to facilitate movement of equipment and for storage. It would be returned to the landowners who can use it for farming or for grazing cattle, but not for buildings and trees. The land needed for an underground rail network would be next to nil. This will considerably lessen public resistance to the project,” he said.
