The work on the SilverLine semi-high-speed railway project is likely to run into rough weather if the Centre continues to drag its feet on granting final permission to it. At present, a joint inspection by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (K-Rail) and the Southern Railway is underway as part of making a land plan for the project. The land plan, which will ascertain the extent of Railway land to be acquired for the project, is expected to be completed in two months.
After that, K-Rail has to prepare tender documents and conduct hydrological and soil surveys. However, the final approval of the Centre is required for the K-Rail authorities to go ahead with these works.
Around 250 km of the project would pass through land adjacent to the Railways land – mainly from Tirur to Kasaragod and some stretches in Thiruvananthapuram. Alignment stones have been laid in identified plots in around 70-80 km stretch. The rest of the work would be completed in a couple of months. The State government too requires Central approval to go ahead with subsequent works. The Railway Board has been sitting on the SilverLine file for 20 months.
