THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could accelerate railway development in the state, the state will soon have third and fourth railway lines parallel to the existing double lines.
After his meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X that the ministry is “working on 3rd and 4th line from North to South Kerala, so that both passengers and cargo can move by rail.”
The meeting also discussed the construction of new Railway Over Bridges and under bridges. In his X post, the Union minister also pointed out that Kerala’s railway budget has been increased from average Rs 372 crore during the previous UPA government’s tenure to Rs 3,042 crore in the current financial year of 2025-26.
It’s learnt that the Centre has sent feelers that it’s not keen on the state government’s proposal for SilverLine, a semi high-speed rail corridor. After the Union railway ministry made it clear that the project put forth by K-Rail Corporation cannot be approved due to technical and ecological reason, the state had asked the Centre to look into E Sreedharan’s alternative proposal.
“E Sreedharan’s proposal was submitted before the Centre last February. However, they haven’t studied it in detail. Today, they said they would inform the Metroman a final decision,” said K V Thomas, who accompanied the CM.
Speaking to TNIE, Sreedharan said so far he hasn’t received any official communication from the Centre regarding his proposal. “Since the Centre has not given clearance for the SilverLine proposal, it seems the state is in favour of going ahead with my proposal,” he said.