THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cabinet meeting approved the detailed project report for the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod high-speed rail line (silver line) that will bring down the journey to fours hours between the districts. Trains will run at a speed of 200 km/hr. The new alignment is without Mahe as the Puducherry government opposed it. The next procedure includes funding and land acquisition. The high-speed rail line will run from Thiruvananthapuram to Tirur in a separate route to the current railway line and will run parallel to it from Tirur to Kasaragod.

The land will be acquired with 15 to 25 metre width in areas with a low density of population. K-Rail has been directed to approach financial institutions and nationalized banks to secure fund required for land acquisition. Agencies like JICA, JFW, ADB and IIB will be approached for loan. The detailed report was prepared by Systra in Paris.

The Railway Board had approved in principle to go ahead with the Rs 64,000 crore project in 2019.

The 529.45-kilometre long rail line will run through 11 districts. 1226 acres of land will have to be acquired for this. There will be 11 stops for the train.

By considerably reducing the dependence on road traffic, it will substantially save fuel cost.By modest estimates, no less than 500 trucks will be taken off the road per day, according to a release.

This will not only decongest the roads but also reduce road accidents sharply and address the problem of atmospheric pollution.