Kerala: Congress Led UDF To Oppose Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Semi-High Speed Rail Corridor

Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan declared there is no going back on the K-Rail or Silver Line semi-high speed rail project and urged the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) to withdraw its opposition to the project.

Connecting Kerala With Speed

The 529.45 km Silver Line corridor connecting Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram, with an operating speed of 200kmph, eases the transport between Kerala's North and south ends.

The semi-high speed rail reduces the total travel time to less than four hours, compared with the present 10 to 12 hours.

The intermediate stations of this corridor include Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kochi Airport, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

K-Rail or Kerala Rail Development Corporation, a joint venture company of the Government of Kerala and Ministry of Railways, is the executing agency of this project.

Recently the Kerala Government accorded permission to start preliminary work for acquiring 955.13 hectares of land spanning over 11 districts in the state, reports Manorama.

Amid this development, the main opposition front in the state led by Congress has decided to oppose the project.

The Congress-led UDF alleged that the sidewalls that will be built for Thiruvananthapuram– Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SilverLine) Project would cause floods.

Accusing the project for lack of socio-environmental impact study, the main opposition front opines that the rail corridor divides Kerala into two parts by building walls on both sides of the rail.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan said that a huge cost has to be incurred for the project, which is beyond the capacity of the State Government, which is another reason for their opposition.