Introduction
It is a proposed flagship project of the government of Kerala for High-Speed Rail (silverline) project. It is a semi-high speed railway corridor which will connect Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and thereby enhancing the state’s railway infrastructure and economic growth. The total length of the corridor is 530.6 km. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 63,941 crores. The project’s new alignment will connect 11 districts and it aims to ease transportation along the entire north-south length of Kerala.
Fig 1: The Silver Line Project in map
Courtesy: IAS Gatewayy
Highlights of the Project
- The project aims to reduce the travelling time between the state’s northern and southern ends. It will reduce the travelling time from 12 hours to 4 hours.
- The project is executed by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and it is expected to be completed by the year 2025.
- It is a joint venture of the Union Ministry of Railways and the State Government of Kerala.
- As per study it is said that once the corridor becomes operational, approximately 79,934 passengers are expected to travel per day.
- It will reduce the congestion on roads significantly and will help to reduce accidents and fatalities.
Feature of the Project
- The corridor will have EMU type trains. The trains will run at a maximum speed of 220 kmph on a standard gauge track.
- There are total 11 stations proposed. It will include two terminals (three elevated, one underground, and the remaining at grade).
- Under passages are the provisions of service roads for every 500 meters of the corridor.
- As per study, it is said that the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand RORO services, produce employment opportunities, and integrate airports and IT corridors and faster development of cities it passes through.
- It will also reduce fuel consumption, mitigate noise, and rejuvenate abandoned paddy fields.
- The project will provide 50,000 direct employments during the construction period and 10000 employment opportunities in post-operation period.
- The roads will have special facilities for differently-abled passengers such as extra-wide gates, wheelchair docking facilities in every coach,tactile paths etc.
- There will be CCTV surveillance in trains and stations, customer care facility, security staff in all stations.
- It is 100% reliable on renewable energy sources.
- At every 500 meter of the corridors, under passages is there and service roads along the alignment which will boost the value of land locked property.
Progress of the Project
Kerala’s ambitious Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High Speed Rail (SHSR)project was approved in August 2019. The state government is going ahead with its effort to mobilize investments for the project.
In the beginning of the project, an aerial survey is done to identify the alignment of the rail project. It is done by LiDAR aerial remote sensing method. In the initial phase of the exercise, it covered the northernmost 80 km stretch from Kannur. It is the first vital step before commencing the work of Silver Line Project which will reduce end-to-end travel time across the state to four hours. The survey will help to identify the alignment very fast and start construction and will enable the authority to prepare DPR(Detailed Project Report). Silver Line project is the second rail project in India to use LiDAR survey. The LiDAR eye can detect things ranging from buildings, people inhabited areas, forests and bridges and enables to complete the alignment by avoiding things that are beneficial for people.
Fig 2: Lidar Survey
Criticism of the Project
Previously the Government announced that the corridor would be constructed parallel to the existing line, but the present alignment at many locations is up to 4 km away from the existing one. It will result in large-scale land acquisition.
The environmentalists are opposing it as the project can prove to be unimaginably disastrous to the fragile ecology of that region. The project can also trigger floods and landslides in the near future. But the Kerala Government is exploring sustainable solutions for it.
Reference
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/kerala-silverline-high-speed-railway-project- – 7360214/
https://keralarail.com/projects/thiruvananthapuram-kasaragod-semi-high-speed-rail-shsr-project/
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