An employee works on a final assembly line for a high speed train model at China CNR's Tangshan Railway Vehicle's factory in Tangshan. Reuters (Image for representation only)Kottayam: Imagine reaching Kochi from the capital city in forty minutes and Kannur in two hours and twenty five minutes by rail. If things fall in place as envisaged by the high speed rail corridors project mooted by the Centre, this scenario is going to be a reality.
The state is all set to submit a detailed proposal to the Centre on the Kerala High Speed Rail Corridor project, which will facilitate the fastest trip from the capital city to Malabar.
Kerala is the first state to conduct a preliminary study and survey and prepare a proposal for the project as part of the rail corridor scheme announced by Modi Government.
An official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which conducted the study for Kerala, told Onmanorama that the officials were processing the final draft to submit the proposal to the Centre. However, he said the date of submission is yet to be decided.
As per the study conducted by DMRC, the 430-km rail route will facilitate journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur in 145 minutes or just two hours and twenty five minutes.
The project, if materialised, is likely to bring in sweeping changes in the traffic sector in the state, which is grappling with rampant gridlocks and congested roads.
The bullet trains will take only 40 minutes to reach Kochi from Thiruvananthapuram. The proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur corridor would have nine stations.
If it starts next year, the work could be finished in 2022, officials of the DMRC feel. As per preliminary estimate, the project would cost a whopping Rs 65,000 crore. DMRC officials led by Principal Adviser E.Sreedharan are also exploring ways to secure funding for the project.
The proposed railway line will pass through mostly unpopulated and marsh land.
The project has been envisaged in such a way so as not to cause huge displacement of people, public assets and habitats, according to officials. However, as many as 3,868 buildings will have to be demolished and over 35,000 trees felled for the accomplishment of the project. “Possibilities of replanting the trees will be explored or a same number of saplings will be planted to balance the losses caused by the project,” officials said.
As much as 600 hectares of land needs to be acquired for the project. This will include 540 hectares owned by the public and 60 hectares of the government land. The revised package of compensation followed while acquiring land for national highway development will be followed for the high speed rail corridor project too.
The land owners will be paid high compensation and land for rehabilitation. Hundred percentage rehabilitation will be ensured for those who relinquish land according to government policy.
A Shinkansen high-speed train runs near Shimbashi Station as it heads for Tokyo Station in Tokyo. AP (Image for representation only)The bullet trains can reach a speed of 350 km per hour and can carry 817 passengers at a time. It takes over 10 hours now to reach Kannur from Thiruvananthapuram by rail or road and four to five hours to reach Ernakulam.
The DMRC has been engaged by the Kerala government through Kerala State High Speed Rail Corporation to conduct prepare a detailed project report.
The DMRC is visualising the development of KHSRC in a phased manner. Apart from the proposed corridor, it is also considering two other scenarios – a corridor from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore and another one to Kasaragod.
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