Malappuram: Undeterred by Kerala’s exclusion from the Union Budget’s high-speed rail announcements, ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan on Sunday reaffirmed his resolve to take forward the proposed high-speed rail corridor in the state, announcing the launch of survey-related activities and the opening of a project office at Ponnani.

While presenting the Union Budget on February 1, the Union Finance Minister unveiled plans for seven high-speed rail corridors linking major urban and economic centres across the country, including Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi and Varanasi–Siliguri. Kerala was not included in the list, triggering protests from the state government.

Despite the setback, Sreedharan said he would proceed with preliminary work for the proposed Thiruvananthapuram–Kannur high-speed rail line. He said an office would begin functioning on Monday as the first step towards implementing the project.

"We have decided not to wait for an order and waste time. The monsoon begins in Kerala by June-July, and survey work cannot be carried out then. The office will start functioning on Monday. It may not be a big office, but people can come and work," he told the media.

Sreedharan said a team of around 10–12 people had been selected for the project, with most working on-site and some contributing remotely.

"We have decided to proceed quickly with the preparation of the detailed project report," he said.

According to Sreedharan, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had expressed support for the Kerala project during a meeting held on January 16. He said the project was envisioned as a joint venture between the Centre and the state government, and he remained confident that the Railway Ministry would eventually issue formal approval.

"The Railway Ministry has said it will implement the rail line. The state government will come into the picture once the report is ready, and it will be sent to them for their opinion," he said.

Sreedharan clarified that the absence of the Kerala project from the Budget was not unexpected.

"The Railway Minister had told me that it would not come in the Budget. The seven projects mentioned in the Budget are bullet train projects. We do not need a bullet train here," he said

He noted that the high-speed rail corridors announced in the Budget had been under consideration for several years

Explaining the technical parameters of the Kerala proposal, Sreedharan said the trains would have a maximum speed of 200 kmph, with an operational speed of around 180 kmph.

He said he was not worried about possible delays in securing Railway Ministry sanction and added that discussions had already been held with the Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which would be responsible for preparing the detailed project report.

Sreedharan estimated the cost of preparing the DPR at ₹13.1 crore and pointed out that the state government had earlier spent nearly ₹100 crore on the DPR for the now-shelved K-Rail project.

He also called for the withdrawal of cases registered during protests against the K-Rail project.

"The first thing the government should do is withdraw the cases. That will create goodwill among the people," he said.

Sreedharan said he would engage with local residents and take them into confidence before commencing survey work to ensure the process proceeded smoothly

He added that he would serve as the principal advisor for the project with full powers equivalent to that of a managing director.

While Sreedharan expressed confidence that the Railway Ministry would clear the high-speed rail proposal, the Kerala government has decided to pursue a Regional Rapid Transit System from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.