High speed rail back on track

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the existing rail and road networks functioning beyond capacity, the State Government wants to take up the construction of the Rs 65,000-crore High Speed Rail Corridor (HSRC) from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur in an urgent manner.

Industries minister P. K. Kunhalikutty hinted that the HSRC was the panacea for the transportation woes faced by the state.

“There is more than 100 per cent utilisation of the existing two-lane railway,” Mr Kunhalikutty said in the Assembly on Tuesday. “Making matters worse, the innumerable curves and bends along this railway path has barred trains from moving at a speed of over 100 km per hour,” he added.

Road travel is also becoming increasingly difficult. “There is an annual 10-12 per cent increase in vehicle numbers. The increase in congestion is leading to an increase in travel time,” the minister said.

With owners of land on either side reluctant to part with their properties, Mr Kunhalikutty said that the widening of national highway had turned out to be virtually impossible.

The minister said that a project report submitted by DMRC has found the project to be desirable. The proposed HSRC is planned away from the existing rail and national highways, and passes through areas with less population density.

“In highly populated areas, the corridor will pass underground. Therefore, question of acquiring land does not arise,” Mr Kunhalikutty said.

Further, in most of the stretches the high-speed rail will move over girders erected over pillars. “It is only for 10-12 per cent of its entire stretch that the corridor moves at the ground level,” the minister said.

The HSRC will have the capacity of an eight-lane highway but requires less than one-third land. If an eight-lane road needs a width of 60-80 metres, the HSRC needs only 20 metres.

In comparison, the number of persons affected by the corridor will be one-tenth of those displaced by a road project.