Kerala yet again pushes for SilverLine rail project nod

In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister’s Office said the Union Minister has promised favourable consideration of the state’s demands.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan interacting with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi on Wednesday. Kerala minister in charge of Railways V Abdurahiman is also seen
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan interacting with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi on Wednesday. Kerala minister in charge of Railways V Abdurahiman is also seenPhoto | Express
Updated on
2 min read

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a brief lull, the state government has once again pushed for clearance of SilverLine, its ambitious semi-high-speed rail project. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and minister-in-charge of railways in the state V Abdurahiman met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw with a slew of demands, including approval for the proposed 64k crore railway project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.

In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister’s Office said the Union Minister has promised favourable consideration of the state’s demands after bureaucratic-level discussions, before taking a final decision. CM Pinarayi met the minister as a continuation of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August where he had raised a number of issues.

A slew of other issues, including the Angamaly - Erumeli Sabari rail project, expediting the move to increase the number of tracks to 3 and 4 and other railway projects too came up for discussion. These projects have faced long delays, especially the Sabari project and the SilverLine. Speaking to the media, V Abdurahiman said the meeting was positive and the Union Minister assured a favourable response to other demands of the state.

The SilerLine project, to be implemented by the K Rail Corporation, has been in cold storage for some time due to the lack of final clearance from the Union Railway Ministry. The Centre had made clear that the final nod would be issued based on techno-economic feasibility.

Meanwhile, the survey for the project, conducted across the state, had triggered state-wide protests. There were also widespread concerns over environmental issues related to the project. Following this, the state was silent on the project for some time. Last February, the state government again wrote to the Centre seeking approval for the rail project. The state had cited the high occupancy rate on the newly introduced Vande Bharat trains, as the reason for pushing SilverLine again.

Meanwhile, the state made another attempt to obtain clearance for the project through another channel.

The state’s special representative in Delhi K V Thomas had taken up the project through Metroman E Sreedharan, who had come up with a reworked proposal for the project. However, the Centre has not issued its final clearance for the project yet.

Related Stories

No stories found.

X
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com