The report submitted by the Southern Railway on issues related to the SilverLine project of Kerala has put a question mark on the viability of the 530-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi-high-speed-rail project proposed by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (K-Rail). The Railway Board had earlier directed the Southern Railway to hold discussions with K-Rail on issues related to the project and submit a report at the earliest.
In the report submitted, the Southern Railway has said that the proposed alignment of the project was finalised without prior consultation with it. The alignment is quite close to the railway infrastructure and train operations would be interrupted by the dismantling and reconstruction of railway assets for the proposed project. Further, the future development needs of Railways in Kerala have not been considered by the K-Rail.
Expressing its inability to spare the required land for the project, Railways said the SilverLine track was proposed as a standard gauge with a design speed of 200 kmph which is not in conformity with that of the existing railway line. It cannot be integrated with the rail network which has gradients and horizontal curves.
