Guruvayur-Thirunavaya railway line project in focus again

Railway Minister’s visit to Kerala an opportunity to raise the issue, say stakeholders

The visit of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who is accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple on Saturday has renewed hopes for the State government to take up the 39-km Guruvayur-Thirunavaya rail line.

This long-pending project was taken up by E. Ahamed when he was Union Minister of State for Railways as well as Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) advisor E. Sreedharan. So far, nothing has materialised though the State government also had shown keen interest in the project.

But now, many believe that this is an opportunity to once again raise the project. The issues of rail connectivity between north and south of the State would be solved to a great extent. Besides, rail passengers would also get the benefit of getting the distance reduced by 30 km, O. Jayarajan, consultant of the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited, said.

Further, he said that the railway line would have connectivity after the developments of Beypore and Ponnani ports. The proposed Thalassery-Mysuru railway line could also be connected to the Guruvayur-Thirunavaya rail line, he said.

Mr. Jayarajan said that the State government and the elected representatives should bring the issue before the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister.

Previously, the State government had given the nod to carry out a survey in Edappal, Marancherry, Thavanoor regions in Malappuram district .

Incidentally, the original proposal was for a railway line from Guruvayur to Tanur. But, it was modified to link Guruvayur to Thirunavaya on the existing line between Shoranur and Kozhikode.

Earlier, the Railways had also proposed a Guruvayur-Kuttipuram line in 1995. Even funds were earmarked for the project in the Railway budget for the purpose. However, the proposal was dropped following opposition from local people.