MALAPPURAM: ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan has unveiled a revised design for the proposed Kerala High-Speed Rail (KHSR) line, stating that the changes would significantly reduce both the construction cost and the project completion. According to the modified plan, the high-speed rail will cover the 465-km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Presenting a fresh report on the project at a press conference held at his newly opened office in Ponnani, Sreedharan said the updated alignment now includes Pathanamthitta.
“Design modifications and structural changes will help reduce the financial burden and shorten the overall project timeline,” he said.
According to him, the revised estimate pegs the total cost at Rs 56,500 crore, compared to the earlier projection of around Rs 80,000 crore.
“The line will be mostly elevated (about 445 km) and only about 20km will be underground. Only passenger trains will run on this. The advantage is that axle loads will be only 16 tonnes, as against 25 tonnes for broad gauge. This will make the elevated structures light and sleek, apart from saving in cost by over 20%,” he said.
The proposed service will operate at a speed of 200 km per hour and have 20 stations.“The first station will be Thiruvananthapuram, which will be an underground one. From there, the airport will be connected through a tunnel. The line will then be aligned through Kottarakkara, Pathanamthitta and Tiruvalla. After Thrissur, it will go straight to the Malappuram and Karipur Airport station via Pattambi. The earlier proposal to include Kunnamkulam has been dropped,” Sreedharan said.
He said the corridor will be a double track on standard gauge.“The stations will be Thiruvananthapuram, Airport, Varkala, Kollam, Kottarakkara, Pathanamthitta,Tiruvalla, Kottayam, Vaikom, Ernakulam, Nedumbassery airport, Thrissur, Pattambi, Malappuram, Karipur airport, Kozhikode, Koyilandy, Vadakara, Thalassery and Kannur,” he said.
‘Solar farm will help meet electricity demand’
“Trains will stop for one minute at each station and for two minutes at the airport station,” he said.
On the operations, Sreedharan said, “There will be trains every half hour from 6am to 10am and from 4pm to 8pm. Between 10am and 4pm, trains will run every hour. The last train will leave at 8pm. We expect around 45,000 passengers a day. Train intervals can be reduced in the future.”
He said the project would maintain high standards of safety, cleanliness and punctuality.
“A solar farm will help meet the electricity demand on its own. There will be no need for support from the Kerala State Electricity Board,” he said.
He said no land acquisition will be needed where the line is underground.
“Where it is elevated, only 20m width of land will be acquired to facilitate construction. After the construction is over, land can be given back to the original owners on lease basis, with certain conditions for cultivation or grazing. KHSR will, however, keep 50% of land with itself to set up solar farms,” he said.
“Funding the project will be on the Konkan Railway pattern. Only 70% of the project completion cost will be borne by the two governments in the ratio 51:49 and the balance 30% will be through debt or bond participation. Based on this, the burden of the Union government will be about `20,171 crores and the Kerala government `19,380 crores,” Sreedharan said.
“Each train will have eight coaches with a total seating capacity of 560. No standing passengers will be allowed. There will be only one class of travel — Premium class,” he said.
The proposed fare from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam is `440, while tickets to Kozhikode and Kannur are estimated at `640 and `780, respectively.