THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Semi high-speed rail is a flagship project of second Pinarayi government. As state moves ahead with land acquisition, critics raise questions on the feasibility of the project. TNIE examines the pros and cons of the project in a 3-part series
The ambitious semi high-speed rail project, SilverLine, billed as the gamechanger in Kerala’s infrastructure as well as economic growth, recently received a major push with the state government formally giving the nod for land acquisition. The project envisages travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod covering 11 districts and 11 stations in less than four hours (at a speed of 200 km/h) through a dedicated railway corridor. At present, it will take more than 12 hours to cover the same distance through the existing rail network.
The fiercest advocate for the project is the Kerala government itself. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan personally treats this as a flagship project that the LDF government wants to gift to the state. The feasibility study conducted for the project estimates that 79,934 persons are expected to travel per day through the semi high-speed rail daily by 2025-26 when the project is expected to be launched and it would increase to 1,58,946 in 2052-53.
The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited which is executing the SilverLine project estimated the project cost at Rs 63,941 crore, while, as per current market trend, at least Rs 1.3 lakh crore is required to complete the project.Critics right from the beginning have flayed the traffic projections made by the agency, alleging that the traffic projection was exaggerated and far from reality.
“The Covid situation has changed our social order in a big way. Contrary to the pre-Covid era, there is no need for a person to come all the way to Thiruvananthapuram secretariat from Kasaragod to get an official work done in the normal circumstances as almost all services are now available online or would be available online soon,” said Ravisankar K V, social activist and journalist.
“The new digital world requires less travel for various purposes and virtual presence would be enough for job-related meetings and other programmes in future. The big question is whether the traffic projection made by the authorities in pre-Covid era would be right in the post-Covid world,” he said.
The government claim that through the operationalisation of semi high-speed trains powered by renewable energy, the state can reduce the CO2 emission in a year by 2,87,994 tonnes is also challenged by the critics. By 2030, the Union government aims to make India a 100% electric-vehicle nation. If not 100 per cent, at least 50% of vehicles will be run by electricity by 2030, considerably bringing down CO2 emission. Hence, SilverLine won’t have that added advantage when it materialises.
The Indian Railways is now running Gatiman Express from New Delhi to Jhansi at a speed of 160 kmph and it has already announced that all express trains in the country will be operated at a speed of 150 kmph by 2025.
“If normal trains are available at a speed of 150km/h at least 10 years later, whether the middle class people will be ready be to travel in the semi high-peed train which runs at an average speed of 180 km/h, at a ticket rate 10 times higher than the normal train fare,” asked M T Thomas, environmental activist.
Ajith Kumar V, MD of KRDCL, said it was not an easy task for enhancing the speed of existing trains. “The Indian Railways has to fix 626 curves in varying degrees on existing lines to allow normal trains to run at enhanced speed. On the traffic projections made in the post-Covid era, he said nobody can predict what will happen after a certain period and we cannot stall existing infra projects thinking that the world will come to standstill in future.”
STATE ESTIMATES 79,934 PERSONS TO TRAVEL EACH DAY
The fiercest advocate for the project is the state government itself. CM Pinarayi Vijayan personally treats this as a flagship project that the LDF government wants to gift to the state. The feasibility study conducted for the project estimates that 79,934 persons are expected to travel per day by 2025-26 when the project is expected to be launched.
VITAL STATS
529.45km route length Max operational speed: 200km/h Rs 63,941 cr estimated cost
Stations: Kochuveli in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kochi airport, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod
Eight of the stations are located on the outskirts of the cities which will result in creation of new urban areas and contribute to growth
Travel Time: 4 hours from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. To travel 100km, 30 to 45 minutes are needed
Passenger capacity per train: 675 (9 coaches)
Daily Ridership: 79,934 in 2025–26 (including airport trips, additional trips due to introduction of city feeder sevices) increasing to 1,58,946 (including additional trips) by 2052–53
Train operation: 37 services by 2025 with peak headway of 20 minutes, increasing to 65 in 2052 with peak headway of 10 minutes
VALUE-ADDED FEATURES
Rail line can be used for goods transport too as trucks and lorries can be carried on Ro-Ro facilities
The rail line will be integrated with T’Puram and Kochi international airports in the next phase
It will also connect with IT parks like Technopark and Infopark
It will help reduce road accidents substantially
It will operate on green energy, mitigate noise and help reduce pollution on roads