The Board of Directors of Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (K-Rail) has approved the DPR (Detailed Project Report) and alignment of the Rs 63,941 crore Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi-High Speed Rail (SHSR) corridor. A press release said that the DPR will now be submitted to the state government for approval, and thereafter to the Ministry of Railways.
More Information:
- Also, the DPR requires the approval of Niti Aayog and the Central Cabinet.
- The DPR, which is approved by a meeting of the board held on April 15, drawn up by Paris-based M/s Systra.
- The report proposes to construct railway lines between Thiruvananthapuram and Tirur as a Green Field Corridor and those between Tirur and Kasaragod as a parallel to the existing Railway alignment.
- The SHSR corridor, called ‘Silverline’, will enable running of trains at an operational speed of 200 kmph.
- This will facilitate trains to reach Kasaragod in 4 hours from the state capital.
- The alignment of the SHSR corridor is same as that was approved earlier as part of the feasibility report, except for some minor modifications of plus or minus 10 to 50 metres to avoid religious/heritage structures, according to the DPR.
- The 530.6 km long SHSR line is expected to be completed by 2025 with the work starting this year.
- 52% of the total cost will be raised as loan and the remaining expenditure will be met by the Centre and the state government and by participation of financial institutions.
- The SHSR corridor will have 11 stations including Cochin airport and would give a big boost to tourism in the state.
- The project is a joint venture of the Ministry of Railways and Kerala Government.
- EMU Type trains of 9 cars with a seating capacity of 675 are to be operated on the line, as per the release.
- There will be business class and standard class seats on coaches.
