Thiruvananthapuram: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the SilverLine Project, which was submitted to the Central Government by the Kerala Government recently, said that the standard gauge for the semi high-speed rail project was fixed as per international standards.

The State Government said that it was not possible to run trains with a speed of 200 km per hour through the Indian Railway's existing broad gauge rail line (1678 mm). The DPR said that the standard gauge (1435 mm) was fixed for the SilverLine project after holding discussions with the Railway Board.

However, the State Government has not made the DPR public till now. Those who oppose the project refuted the claims of the State Government and said that it would be impossible to link the semi high-speed rail to be built on the standard gauge with the Indian Railways' broad gauge line.

Meanwhile, the traffic projection report of the DPR said that roughly 54,000 passengers would daily commute through SilverLine rail once it is implemented in 2025. The State Government expects that the footfalls can go up to 1.14 lakh.

According to the State Government, an average of 79,934 persons use road and rail services daily in Kerala. The DPR said that of this, 12 to 38 per cent of persons are likely to opt for SilverLine services in future.

Daily, there will be 37 services during the first stage of the commissioning. In peak hours, the services will be every 20 minutes. In the total nine cars of a Silverline train, the passenger capacity is 675.

In the beginning, a total of Rs 2,276 crore is expected as yearly revenue. The daily revenue is expected to be Rs 6.2 crore. By 2032, the annual revenue is expected to touch Rs 4,504 crore. It is going to be Rs 10,361 crore in 2042 and  Rs 21,827 in 2052.

Fencing on both sides

The total distance of SilverLine is estimated to be 530.6 km. Almost 293 km of the rail will be built by elevating the land with sand. There will be fencing on both sides of the rail.

The rail for a distance of almost 125 km will cut through hills. The total length of bridges will be 13 km and tunnels 11.52 km. The total cost for the project is pegged at Rs 63,940.67 crores. Every year, the cost is expected to be escalated by five per cent (Rs.3200 crore).

Private, freight services planned

According to the DPR, freight services will be launched through the rail by using 480 train trucks (Roro services). There are also plans to run tourist-sleeper services on weekend nights with the participation of private players as part of generating additional revenue.

The maximum speed for freight services is 120 km per hour. From freight services, a profit of Rs 25 per kilometre is expected. The annual revenue from such services will be Rs 237 crore in the beginning. 

Steps will be taken to link the SilverLine project stations with bus stands, railway stations, airports and jetties to attract more passengers. About 27 feeder stations will be built later to link the stations with important towns.

Three types of stations

The 11 rail stations coming under the project will be classified into three categories based on the number of passengers using the service and the revenue earned.

A Class: Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod

B Class: Chengannur, Kottaym, Tirur

C Class: Cochin Airport