In view of mounting criticism against the SilveLine project, the K-Rail authorities on Tuesday said the standard gauge was chosen for the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project as it is considered to be the optimal gauge for running speedier trains.
Indian broad-gauge lines are yet to develop the standards and codes for running trains beyond 160 kmph, and it is not the ideal solution for a high-speed tracks. Integration with existing railways happens through station integration rather than track integration. It is to be seen from the perspective of a traveler rather than a technocrat to realise the benefit, the authorities said in a release.
The argument that 93% of the alignment of the project is on weak soil is not correct. Weak soils are those that have ‘N’ values less than 10, an indication of the relative density of the subsurface soil. Only around 20% of the alignment goes through such soil as per the geo-technical survey, they said, adding that these areas are predominantly closer to rivers, paddy fields and so on, and that viaduct or bridges are proposed in such locations.
