Kerala’s Silverline project
- Last week, the Kerala cabinet gave the green light to begin acquiring land for SilverLine, its flagship semi high-speed railway project aimed at reducing travel time between the state’s northern and southern ends.
- The project entails building a semi high-speed railway corridor through the state linking its southern end and state capital Thiruvananthapuram with its northern end of Kasaragod.
- It aims to connect major districts and towns with semi high-speed trains that will run on their own tracks.
- The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited(KRDCL) (a joint venture between the Ministry of Railways and the Kerala government) will execute this project.
- The deadline for the project is 2025.
Features:
- The railway line will be around 529 kms long, covering 11 districts through 11 stations.
- the project will have trains of electric multiple unit (EMU) type with preferably nine cars and extendable to 12 cars each.
- A nine-car rake can seat a maximum of 675 passengers in business and standard class settings.
- The trains can run at a maximum speed of 220 kmph on standard gauge track, completing journeys in either direction in under four hours.
- A total of 11 stations are proposed including the two terminals, three of which will be elevated, one underground and the rest at grade.
Benefits:
- Once the project is completed, one can travel from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in less than four hours on trains traveling at 200 km/hr. The current travel time on the existing Indian Railways network is 12 hours.
- Reduce the traffic load on existing railway tracks
- make travel easier and faster for commuters.
- reduce the congestion on roads and help reduce accidents and fatalities.
- It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- help in expansion of Ro-Ro services
- produce employment opportunities
- integrate airports and IT corridors and faster development of cities it passes through.
Challenges:
- land acquisition problems in a highly densely-populated state like Kerala.
- Many environmentalists citing potential damage to the state’s ecosystem in the path of the proposed route.
- There is fear of irreversible impact on the state’s rivers, paddy fields, and wetlands, triggering floods and landslides in the future.