The proposal to extend SilverLine, the semi-high-speed rail project, to Mangaluru will cost an additional ₹6,000 crore, as per the estimate of 2019-2020, if the project is approved.
The detailed project report (DPR) submitted to the Railway Board to get the final nod has no provision to extend the railway line to Mangaluru, for which a new study has to be done.
The proposal has come up for discussion in the 30th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council held in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. A consensus was arrived at between the two States to hold a chief ministerial-level meeting in Bengaluru by the end of this month to this effect.
Speaking to The Hindu, V Ajithkumar, managing director, K-Rail, said there were no major technical or economical challenges to extending the rail line to Mangaluru. A new traffic study had to be done as part of extending around less than 50 km line to the port city of Karnataka. The project will cost an additional ₹6,000 crore as per the estimate of ₹120 crore a km,” he said.
Earlier, when the high-speed-rail project was conceived by E. Sreedharan, who was the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) Principal Advisor, during the term of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government, the proposal to extend the line to Mangaluru was suggested in the second phase. In this case, as well, the State government is exploring the possibility of extending the line to Mangaluru in the second phase.
This would open a new window of opportunities for the people of north and central Kerala, as the second largest industrial city in Karnataka would be just a stone’s throw away from the State. However, the cost estimated for the extension would be far from reality as the project is already getting delayed with the Centre dragging its feet on giving final approval for the project.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who attended the meeting, stressed the need to link the high-speed rail between Chennai and Coimbatore to the cities in the neighbouring States.
