160 km high-speed rail connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore; Kerala govt to join hands with railways

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With permission granted for a survey of the 160 kmph high-speed line, the government is moving to collaborate with the Railways for the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore high-speed rail project.

The speed of the 633 km-long third line is 160 kmph. The survey is to implement the project in seven reaches. The government will cooperate with the Railways.

When the Silver Line project was abandoned, Metroman E Sreedharan submitted the project document for the 160 kmph Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur elevated rail to the government. The government assessed this as environmentally and economically unfeasible. The survey was approved for the Mangalore-Shornur, Coimbatore-Shornur, Shoranur-Ernakulam, Ernakulam-Kayamkulam, Kayamkulam-Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil, and Thuravoor-Ambalapuzha reaches.

The lines will be broad gauge. The railways announced that they will be connected to the Chennai-Bengaluru, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Chennai-Hyderabad lines with a speed of 350 kmph.

Currently, the Kollam-Kottayam, Kottayam-Ernakulam and Shoranur-Mangalore sections can run at a speed of up to 110 kmph. The Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram line has a speed of less than 100 kmph. Steps are underway to increase the speed to 130 kmph by strengthening the tracks and upgrading the signals. The target speed is 160 kmph for the upcoming Mangalore-Shoranur lines 3 and 4 and the Ernakulam-Kottayam-Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil line 3. In this situation, if the government go ahead with the high-speed rail on its own, there is no guarantee of getting the central approval, and additional cost will be incurred.

Benefit also to Vizhinjam

• Cargo trains can run on the railway's high-speed track.
• The Ro-Ro system for moving goods in containers will also benefit the movement of goods from Vizhinjam.
• Speeding up the movement of cargo from neighbouring states is also good for exports. Vizhinjam can also ensure rail connectivity across the country.