Question : High Speed Railway Project

(a) whether the Government has any proposal to construct a high speed Railway line from Trivandrum to Kasaragod and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the present stage of implementation of Sabri Railway Line (Silver Line) project in the State of Kerala;
(c) whether the Union Government has received a proposal from Kerala that the State Government will bear 50% of implementation cost of the project;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereon;
(e) if not, whether the Government will implement the project, if the State Government is ready to bear 50% of implementation cost; and
(f) whether the Government has any details regarding the proposed implementation cost of this project and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) Project of Semi High Speed Rail (531 Km) from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod has been identified by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), a Joint Venture company of State Govt. of Kerala (51%) and Ministry of Railways (49%) for development at a cost of ? 63,941 Cr. In- Principle approval (IPA) for taking up pre-investment activities has been conveyed by Ministry of Railways. After survey, KRDCL has submitted Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Project to the Railway Board, which is under examination. Further, technical details such as alignment plan, particulars of railway land and private land, crossings over existing railway network etc. are being collected from KRDCL to examine the project. It is not a sanctioned project.

(b) to (f) Angamali- Sabrimala New line (111 km) project was included in Railway budget in 1997-98. Project could not be taken forward due to protest by local people against land acquisition and withdrawal of the consent given by State Govt. to share 50% of project cost. Now, State Government vide letter dated 08.01.2021 has agreed to share 50% of project cost, subject to the condition that “operation and maintenance” of the track will be done by Ministry of Railways while the stations along the route will be developed by an SPV (through PPP route) and net revenue realized by SPV will be shared on 50:50 basis between State Government & Ministry of Railways after off setting the cost of operation and Maintenance (O&M). M/s KRDCL has been advised to complete Final Location Survey and to update the project cost. Further implementation of the project will be taken up after examination of report on merits including its financial viability.

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