Silver Line And Pune-Nasik Semi High Speed Rail Projects Get In-Principle Approval

Aiming at faster mode of transportation for rail passengers, survey and preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for seven High Speed Rail corridors has been undertaken.

In-principle approval has been given for pre-investment activity for the two Semi High Speed Rail Projects in the country:

• Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod Semi High Speed Rail (Silver Line) Project on Standard Gauge

• Pune-Nasik Semi High Speed Rail Project on Broad Gauge Line

Currently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project is the only sanctioned high speed rail project in the country which is being implemented with technical and financial assistance from the Government of Japan.

Indian Railways has undertaken the survey and preparation of DPR for the seven High Speed Rail (HSR) corridors which include:

1. Delhi - Varanasi

2. Delhi -Ahmedabad

3. Mumbai-Nagpur

4. Mumbai -Hyderabad

5. Chennai - Bangalore - Mysore

6. Delhi - Chandigarh - Amritsar

7. Varanasi – Howrah

Both the Semi High Speed Rail (SHSR) projects - Silver Line and Pune-Nasik - are to be executed by Joint Venture company naming Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (MRIDC) of the state governments of Kerala and Maharashtra respectively.

However, in the absence of firm financial commitment from the Railways, these two projects have not moved any further despite the in-principle approval.

According to the KRDCL, the Silver Line project is still awaiting a green signal from the Railways and at the moment it is facing uncertainty with no forward movement.

As far as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor is concerned, the project was much delayed because of land acquisition problems.

The first high speed project in the country is not only facing cost escalation, but currently it is behind the target by five years.