The Kerala government has constituted an expert committee to examine a proposal for a high-speed rail corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, taking a formal step toward evaluating a project that its own chief minister has described as a future mobility necessity for the state. The project blueprint was created by Delhi Metro fame, E Sreedharan.
A government order issued by the Transport Department directed the panel to assess the technical feasibility, financial viability, environmental implications and socio-economic benefits of the proposed Kerala High Speed Railway, or KHSR, which is a 473.2-km standard-gauge corridor.
The high speed rail proposal
The KHSR project was prepared by E. Sreedharan, the veteran engineer behind the Delhi Metro and the Konkan Railway, as an alternative to the Silver Line project that the previous Left Democratic Front government had proposed. The current United Democratic Front government scrapped Silver Line shortly after taking office.
According to the DMRC’s interim report, the corridor would run from Poojapura in Thiruvananthapuram to Mundayad in Kannur, with 23 stations along the route. The alignment would be elevated throughout, except for a 6.5-km underground stretch within Thiruvananthapuram city. The average distance between stations works out to 21.5 km.
Trains are designed to operate at a maximum speed of 200 kmph, with an operational speed of 180 kmph and an average commercial speed of 140 kmph. The estimated travel time between the two terminal cities is three hours and 30 minutes.
The committee
Transport Secretary K. Biju will serve as convener of the four-member panel. Railway expert J. Vinayan, finance expert Dr C. Veeramani, and environment expert Sreedhar Radhakrishnan have been appointed to the committee. N.S.K. Umesh, Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, will assist the panel and facilitate its functioning.
The committee has been asked to submit its recommendations within three weeks.
Infrastructure and capacity
Services would initially run with 12-coach trains accommodating 800 seated passengers, with platforms built to support future expansion to 16 coaches. During peak hours, trains are proposed to operate every 20 minutes; every 40 minutes during off-peak hours.
At those frequencies, the corridor’s initial daily capacity would be 54,400 passengers. That figure could be scaled up to 2.28 lakh passengers per day through higher service frequencies. All travel is proposed on reserved seating.
The corridor, built on standard gauge, would permit an axle load of 15 tonnes, lower than the 25 tonnes on broad gauge, which the DMRC says would reduce both construction and operating costs.
Three of Kerala’s four airports would be served directly by the corridor. Kannur International Airport would be connected through a dedicated 10-km access road.
Funding the high-speed Kerala rail project
The project is estimated to cost Rs 60,000 crore, working out to approximately Rs 127 crore per kilometre of construction. Of this, Rs 36,000 crore is proposed through equity contributions from the Centre and the State in a 51:49 ratio. The remaining Rs 24,000 crore is proposed to be raised through crowdfunding, an unconventional financing model that Sreedharan has been actively promoting in public forums.
For land, the project proposes acquisition of a 20-metre-wide corridor. Surplus land after construction may be leased back to the original owners under specified conditions. The entire power requirement is proposed to be met through a captive solar system, with any surplus electricity supplied to the Kerala State Electricity Board.
Sreedharan has said the project can be completed within five years of receiving approval.
What comes next
The KHSR, if approved, could eventually extend beyond Kannur to Kasaragod in the north. Future branch lines are proposed to connect Kozhikode and Kalpetta, Pattambi and Palakkad, and Thrissur and Palakkad.
