Govt to explore feasibility of third, fourth rail line

RITES will prepare the report for the 574-km corridor

October 20, 2017 09:37 pm | Updated October 21, 2017 07:59 am IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The government will explore the feasibility of laying a third and fourth railway line from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod as part of improving the connectivity and operating more trains.

Rail India Technical & Economic Services Ltd. (RITES), the public sector undertaking under Indian Railways, had been tasked to prepare the feasibility report of the third and fourth line in the 574-km corridor.

A decision to this effect was taken at a board meeting of Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), the joint venture between the State and the Railways for executing viable rail projects on 51:49 cost-sharing basis.

The meeting was chaired by KRDCL Chairman and Chief Secretary K.M. Abraham at the Secretariat here on Friday.

The board tasked Konkan Railway Corporation Limited to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed rail corridor from Thalassery to Mysuru, conceived 58 years ago, based on the feasibility study carried out by Railways four years ago.

The KRDCL would soon approach the KRCL and RITES to take up the work once minutes of the board meeting were approved, official sources told The Hindu .

The decision to explore the possibility of the third and fourth line comes in the wake of Railways’ tough stand that a dedicated line is needed for the Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) proposed along the 125.65-km Thiruvananthapuram Central-Chengannur corridor. The RRTS and the Thalaserry-Mysuru railway line figure as the first and second priority projects by the KRDCL to be taken up in Phase I.

With the move for a third and fourth rail line, the take-off of the 430-km High Speed Railway (HSR) line between Kochuveli and Kannur, found viable by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), has further diminished.

DMRC report ignored

The decision to ask to prepare the DPR for the Thalaserry-Mysuru rail line is ignoring the feasibility report of the DMRC that has found the project unviable as only the people of north Kerala beyond Kuttippuram stand to gain.

Finance Secretary Manoj Joshi; Transport Secretary and MD, KRDCL, K.R. Jyothilal; Secretary, IT and OSD to Chief Minister M. Shivasankar; and Project Director, RRTS, Tomy Cyriac; attended the meeting.

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