THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After failing to get an audience with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Indian Railways chief engineer Alok Kumar Verma met Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and conveyed his apprehension over the SilverLine semi high-speed rail project on Wednesday. Verma, who had led the preliminary feasibility study for the project, told reporters: “I wanted to convey my apprehension to the CM or an officer deputed by him. However, I was denied an opportunity,” he said.
Upgrading of the existing railway line and the tilting train are two viable alternatives for the costly SilverLine, he said. “Expenses for both the options are much lower. Without any study, the MD of K-Rail claimed that it was impossible to straighten the curves on the existing railway line. He is wrong. It is possible. The Indian Railways is upgrading lines in a phased manner,” Verma said.
On Tuesday, Pinarayi too had claimed that it was impossible to straighten the 600-odd curves on the existing line, considering the high population density in Kerala. The second option is the tilting train, a mechanism used in several countries including the US and Spain. It helps trains gain speed on regular tracks without disturbing passengers while negotiating a curve, he said. “Its project cost would be about Rs15,000 crore,” he said. The tilting train, Verma said, could run at a speed of 160-180km per hour for most of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod route and 200km per hour for the rest. SilverLine promises a speed of 200km per hour. He said the original plan was to use broad gauge for SilverLine, and the shift to standard gauge was down to vested interests. “The change was in the interest of the external funding agency. The standalone project will hamper the prospects of linking it with the interstate line,” he said.
