THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An intercity transport system like the SilverLine would become profitable in the future, said K-Rail Corporation MD Ajith Kumar. He was speaking at Janasamaksham SilverLine, an online session to address concerns and answer queries on the proposed semi-high-speed rail, on Thursday. He said the project would accelerate industrial growth, attract more investment and create more job opportunities in the state.
Ajith said the state has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to implement the project as per an agreement with the Union Railway Ministry.
The concession period for SilverLine is 50 years. Within this, the capital and interest of loans taken should be paid back. At the end of the concession period, the SPV won’t have any arrears. As per the agreement, the project will be handed over to the central government after 50 years. “The Silverline project is not envisaged to make a profit for the state government or the SPV. If the SPV fails to pay back the debt, the state government would have to do so. The government has in principle agreed to this proposal,” he said.
Responding to another query, Ajith said that there cannot be a comparison between the Kochi Metro Rail and SilverLine. The time saved when using Silverline is substantially high. “The project is envisaged in such a way to ensure last-mile connectivity with all airports through link services,” he pointed out.The cost of constructing a high-speed rail would be more than 250 crore per kilometre, while for semi-high-speed, it will be 120 crore, he said.
“If it’s a high-speed project, the ticket fare would be higher. Since people are conservative, they would rather prefer cheaper tickets. That’s why the government opted for semi-high-speed rail,” he said.
K-Rail officials also said that no decision was taken to put the SilverLine project on hold.