K-Rail project back in news after it approaches ‘Metroman’

Thiruvananthapuram: The ambitious K-Rail semi-high-speed rail project of the Left government in Kerala, which was on the backburner for want of permissions from the union government, is back in the news following a report given by Metroman E Sreedharan to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the rail system.

Former Union Minister and official representative of the Kerala government in New Delhi K V Thomas said on Tuesday that he had held discussions with Sreedharan on the feasibility of the ‘SilverLine’ project, which aims to connect the north and south ends of the state, after getting a nod from the chief minister.

Talking to the media in New Delhi, Thomas said he had suggested to the CM about discussing the K-Rail project with Sreedharan, to which the CM responded in a positive manner.

“Discussions on railway development projects are happening at various levels. SilverLine is a major project, but we cannot move forward without the permission of the Union government,” Thomas said.

He said the discussion with Sreedharan went well and that he had sent a “note” given by the ‘Metroman’ to the chief minister. Thomas, however, did not reveal the details of Sreedharan’s note to the CM.

When asked whether Sreedharan has suggested an alternative to the state government’s proposed project -- which was put on hold due to protests by people who would have to give up their homes to make space for the rail lines -- Thomas said he could not divulge more details about it at this stage.

Sreedharan, who was the BJP candidate from Palakkad in the previous Assembly polls, had earlier made comments against the proposed project.

The SilverLine rail corridor, envisaged to cover a 530-kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram in the south of Kerala to Kasaragod in the north, is estimated to cost around Rs 64,000 crore.

The project aims to make transportation easy along the entire north-south of Kerala and reduce travel time to less than four hours as against 12-14 hours.

“There is no need to bring in politics into this matter. We hope that the union government will take a positive step towards this. The union government is satisfied with the steps taken by the state government in development activities,” Thomas said when asked about the BJP’s earlier opposition to the project and Sreedharan’s BJP affiliation.

Meanwhile, State Industries Minister P Rajeeve today took a dig at the K-Rail protestors and said he was happy that many of them were now realising the importance of the semi-high-speed rail system in the development of the state.

“When we proposed the project, some people said no one was in a hurry to travel on a semi-high speed rail. I am now happy to hear that their attitude has changed. Now that Vande Bharat trains have started plying, many feel that K-Rail should have been implemented before,” Rajeeve told reporters at Kochi. He said the Left government was trying to strengthen the transportation facilities in Kerala to speed up the state’s development.

The Opposition Congress and the BJP in Kerala have been protesting against the SilverLine project, saying it will affect the families who will be displaced due to its implementation.