THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Railways has, in principle, agreed to a state government proposal for a third and fourth railway line linking Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday. The third and fourth line will be laid parallel to the existing double lines, he said after a meeting on Kerala-specific rail projects with Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani.
Kerala had originally proposed high-speed trains for the new lines, but Lohani informed the government that this may not be possible due to technical problems. Instead, semi high-speed trains can be run, he said.
The Kerala Rail Development Corporation, a JV of Kerala government and the Railways, will conduct a survey for the new lines. Congestion on the existing lines being the major hurdle for launching new train services, the government is banking on the new tracks to overcome this handicap. The Railway Board chairman has asked Kerala to submit the detailed project report for the Thalassery-Mysore (via Mananthavady) route before December 31.
The 247 km line is expected to cost Rs 3209 crore. The present Thalassery-Mysore link is 810 km. The new line will reduce it by 570 km and 12 hours in travel time. If the project is approved, the work can be completed in 2024, Pinarayi said. According to him, Lohan has also promised that the Railways would consider the proposal for the Rs 1600 crore, 65 km Erumely-Punalur line.
The 15-km Ettumanur-Pala line also will be considered. At the meeting, the state government also put forth proposals for the Balaramapuram-Vizhinjam port rail link, the 10-km link to the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) and railway terminus at Ernakulam. A decision was taken to prepared project reports for the development of the Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Varkala railway stations.
Provided land is made available on time, the work on the Kochu Veli terminal can be completed in 2019, the Chief Minister said.