Stung by public protest against the semi-high speed railway project conceived by the Left Democratic Front government and considering the lukewarm response to it from the Union government, the State is exploring the option of converting the project into one that supports both semi-high speed and high-speed train services.
The proposed 530-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi-high speed standard-gauge railway link would cost ₹64,000 crore and require large tracts of land.
To allay fears over environmental damage and bisecting the State, the new project suggests that 95% of the line run on elevated structures and the remaining through underground passages.
Veteran railway project expert E. Sreedharan, who has been roped in for the new project, has submitted a preliminary report to the State.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sreedharan said the semi-high speed rail project pending before the Union government would become outdated in a decade or two, considering that the national railway plan had a vision to create a web of high-speed networks linking the main cities across the country.
The new high-speed railway line from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur can be built at less than ₹1 lakh crore in just five or six years, if the work is entrusted with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) or the Indian Railways, he said.
