In response to an article ‘It’s futile to compare Silverline with Vande Bharat’, by Ajith Kumar, MD of the Kerala Rail Development Corporation, which appeared on April 24 edition of TNIE, M T Thomas, an RTI activist & patron of Anti Silverline Project Action Committee, responds.
Edited excerpts:
The article by Ajith Kumar says ‘Silverline is a modern rail infrastructure with capacity to carry 10 lakh passengers per day’. Even if we assume the above number of trips, as the carrying capacity of the Silverline is 675 persons only per trip, it will work out only around 1.95 lakh and not 10 lakh.
When the whole world is thinking of bullet trains with 350 to 500kmph and hyperloop with 1,000kmph speed, the Silverline project is proposed with 200kmph speed, which will be operational after 10 to 15 years from now. The CE Southern Railway has in his letter dated 10.06 & 15.06.20 to KRDCL, has stated that since the curve proposed is 1850mts only, the anticipated speed cannot be achieved. It is also mentioned in the report of MD KRDCL, that Vande Bharat will not be able to achieve more than 160kmph, which is absolutely false. The speed of Vande Bharat can be increased up to 180-200kmph.
The Railway minister has clarified that Vande Bharat Express will be able to reach Kasaragod from Thiruvananthapuram in five-and-a-half hours against the proposed time of four hours for the Silverline, within three years. It will take another 10 to 15 years for commencement of Silverline. By the next 10 to 15 years the speed of Vande Bharat or similar trains will be much higher.
Against the estimate of Rs 63,941 crore for the Silverline project, Niti Aayog has stated that it will be Rs 1,26,000 crore. Moreover, around 3,500 acres of land has to be acquired and 1,00,000 people will have to be evicted for the project.
It is mentioned that 50,000 people will be directly and indirectly employed during construction period. It is ridiculous to state that after evicting 1,00,000 people for the project, 11,000 people will be given jobs, that too after 10 to 15 years.
Another aspect pointed out by the author is that the broad gauge infrastructure in the state is not adequate to run Vande Bharat trains at 160 kmph. The minister has already announced that by improving the signalling system, and straightening the sharp curves on the track, Vande Bharat trains will be run at 110 kmph within one-and-a-half years and in another three years at 130 kmph.
The fare proposed for the Silverline is Rs 2.75 per km. The fare proposed for the Pune - Nashik semi high-speed train is Rs 4 per km. If we take at least the same Rs 4 per km, the fare will be around Rs 2,120 from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, whereas the fare for Vande Bharat is only Rs 1,590 including food, in the ordinary class. The fare proposed for Silverline is based on the estimate of Rs 63,941 crore as on 2020. The estimate assessed by Niti Aayog is Rs 1,26,000 crore.
The most heartening aspect is that the Vande Bharat Express is completely indigenous and we should all be proud of the achievement.
For saving mere one-and-a-half hours for travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, we have to spend Rs 1,26,000 crore and evict 1,00,000 people for the project. When we analyse both the trains, we can all agree to disagree on the Silverline project.