Cost Rs 63,491 cr, loan Rs 33,699 cr: Govt releases K-Rail DPR amid protests | Key takeaways

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid protest over the proposed semi-highspeed SilverLine rail project, also known as K-Rail, the Kerala government on Saturday finally released the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the ambitious project.

The project that is expected to be commissioned in 2025-26 is estimated to cost Rs 63,940.67 crore.

The DPR said the SilverLine would reduce journey time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod from 12 hours to just four hours.

The DPR noted that road traffic has been growing at a rate of 10-11 per cent in the State whereas the growth of the road length has been negligible. This results in a great increase in road congestion.

"The existing railway and road networks are not amenable to faster travel. Average speed on road and by train in the State is among the lowest of all regions of the country. Hence, the necessity for developing SilverLine corridors has been felt to cater to the needs of a rapidly growing and expanding economy and thereby curb the high road-based greenhouse gas emissions," the DPR said.

"The SilverLine alignment is not passing through any notified area such as National Park, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves and other Ecological Sensitive areas. However, the alignment is somewhat parallel to one of the Global Biodiversity Hotspots, the Western Ghats and hence impacts relating to biodiversity need to be carefully assessed," it said.

The lengthy document that was earlier kept under the wraps had caused much furore in the state with the opposition parties crying foul.

The DPR has been uploaded to the state government's official website and the portal of the state assembly.

Congress MLA Anwar Sadath had raised a privilege motion in the state assembly in October following which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had claimed that it would be made public soon.

However, former state information commissioner S Somanathan Pillai later said that the DPR should not be disclosed as it contains matters pertaining to national security.

Highlights:

• The SilverLine project of 529.45km begins at Kochuveli, near Thiruvananthapuram airport, in Thiruvananthapuram District, and runs through the districts of Kollam, Alappuzha (station at Chengannur), Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram (station at Tirur), Kozhikode and Kannur before entering Kasaragod District.
• Out of the 11 stations across Kerala, three of them - Kochuveli (Thiruvananthapuram), Ernakulam and Thrissur - will be elevated ones
• Underground station proposed at Kozhikode
• SilverLine to be connected to the Nedumbassery Airport in phase-I
• To run parallel to existing rail-line between Tirur and Kasaragod
• Each train comprises nine coaches – extendable upto 12 or 15, with a carrying capacity of 675
• 79,934 daily ridership is expected in 2025. This is expected to rise to 1,58,946 in 2052-53
• 37 services in 2025 with peak headway of 20 minutes, increasing to 65 in 2052 with peak headway of 10 minutes
• Business and Standard classes will be available in the trains
• Seating will be 2+2 in Business class and 3+2 in Standard class
• Services will be operated from 5 am to 11 pm
• Maximum operating speed is 200 kilometre per hour
• Special train to be rolled out for tourists on public-private partnership
• Phase-I constructions between Kochuveli and Thrissur
• Phase-II constructions to be extended until Kasaragod
• 1,383 hectare of land, including 1,198-hectare private properties and 185 railway land, is required
• Workshop at Kollam, inspection centre at Kasaragod

Expected revenue:

• 2025-26 – 2,276 crore
• 2032-33 – 4,504 crore
• 2042-43 – 10,361 crore
• 2052-53 – 21,827 crore
• 2062-63 – 42,476 crore
• 2072-73 – 81,139 crore

'Incomplete and unscientific'

Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan has dubbed the DPR as bogus. "They were saying the DPR has matters related to national security hence cannot be released. What happened now?"

He said the over 3,700-page report was incomplete and unscientific.

"The DPR does not contain studies regarding the social and environmental impact the project will have. Without conducting a survey or a study, how did they prepare the DPR? They claim that all the raw materials needed to construct the project are available in central Kerala itself," Satheesan said.

But, he said, the K-Rail authorities claimed the raw materials would be procured from other States. "But, the government does not have the details of the requirement of raw materials. If they have, they would have included them in the DPR," he said.

The Opposition has been organising widespread protest against the K-rail project.

K-Rail

The idea of high-speed rail corridor between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod was first announced in the 2009-10 Kerala Budget.

In 2009, the then V S Achuthanandan government had set up a corporation named Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (KHSRC) to implement the project. Following that, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) conducted a feasibility study and submitted a report in 2012 to the then Congress-led Oommen Chandy government.

But, the project was not implemented due to various factors and the government had dissolved the KHSRC.

Later, the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided to build a special railway corridor between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod and the project was announced by the then Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac in the 2019-20 Kerala budget.

The project is to be executed by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (K-Rail), a joint venture of the government of Kerala and the Ministry of Railways.