Kerala is set to build a Rs. 64,000 crore Semi High Speed Railway Line to reduce Thiruvananthapuram – Kasargod travel time from 9 hrs to 4.5 hrs.



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UPDATED on 1st July 2020

The state government of Kerala is all set to make a big push for its ambitious ‘Silver Line’ project. The 532 kilometres, 200 kph capable Semi High-Speed Railway line has been in the works for a more than a decade.

The Silver Line aims to reduce travel time between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod to less than four hours. The fastest train today covers the same route in a little over nine hours. Cost of the project was estimated to be Rs. 66,000 crores. If on time, the project was planned for completion by 2024.

In Mid-April 2020, engineering consulting firm Systra submitted the Detailed Project Report to Kerala State Government. The report expects the project to cost approx Rs. 63,941 crores. Project completion date has been moved to 2025.

Kerala government approved the Semi High-Speed Rail project in August 2019. The Union government gave in-principle approval to the Kerala government proposal in December 2019. The project will be run as a joint venture between KRDCL and Indian Railways.

Project Snapshot

Total Route KM 532 Number of Stations 10 Cost of Project Rs. 63,941 crores (2020 estimate) [Updated] Target Completion by 2025 (2020 estimate) [Updated] Expected Passenger Traffic 79,934 passengers daily [Updated] Rolling Stock Manufacturer Unknown Gauge Standard Gauge [Updated] Train Capacity EMU Trainsets 9 Coach [Updated]

Proposed Route Map of Kerala’s Silver Line Semi High-Speed Railway Line

The map above is for illustration purposes. The map is based on information made public by KRDCL so far. For details of final alignment please get in touch with KRDCL authorities.

UPDATED: Alignment video from K-rail

The Silver Line will run along Coastal Kerala from capital city Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod on the northern tip of the state. The route is designed to cover much of Kerala and bring much of the state’s population within easy reach of the project.

Proposed Stations on the Silver Line

Proposed Station Distance from Previous Station (estimate) Total Distance (estimate) Time Taken Between Stations Thiruvananthapuram Kollam 55 km 55 km 24 minutes Chengannur 54 km 109 km 24 minutes Kottayam 40 km 149 km 15 minutes Ernakulam 46 km 195 km 23 minutes Cochin Airport Not Known Not Known Not Known Thrissur 64 km 259 km 28 minutes Tirur 58 km 317 km 25 minutes Kozhikode 41 km 358 km 18 minutes Kannur 91 km 449 km 39 minutes Kasargod 83 km 532 km 36 minutes Estimated Distance and time taken along the route. Source: K-rail



Additional stations may be incorporated in the final plan or at a later state.

Silver Line Proposed Fares

Reports suggest that the fares for the Silver Line will be competitive with 3 Tier AC fares on Indian Railways services. The K-rail website suggests pricing of about Rs. 2.75 per kilometre. This will mean a total fare of Rs. 1,463 for a seat between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod.

Equivalent Three Tier AC fare for Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod on the 12431 TVC-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express is Rs. 1,085-1185 at the time.

Project Financing

The Centre’s approval clears the way for the state government and its railway development arm, the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd, to pursue funding and financial closure for the project.

Finances for the project are likely to be contributed jointly by the Kerala state government, the Union government and one or more external lenders. JICA, financing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, among several others, may emerge as a lender for the project, reports claim.

The government claims that the project will be able to break even in 10 years.

Origins of the Silver Line Project

The project was originally envisioned in 2009 as a 526-kilometre high-speed line from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. When complete, the time required to travel from one end to the other was expected to be as low as 140 minutes, or 2 hours and 20 minutes. A total of 12 stations were to be built on the route.

Divided into two phases, the total project cost was estimated at Rs. 1.2 lakh crore rupees. the state government expected to complete the project by 2020.

Promotional video from K-rail – Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited

A separate entity, Kerala High-Speed Rail Corporation, was formed to execute the project. However, due to opposition from within the state over cost and financing, the project made little progress over the next few years. Finally, in early 2019, the state government terminated the project and wound up KHSRCL.

Switch to Semi High Speed Rail

In the meantime, a general consensus was formed to instead construct a new, semi high-speed railway line, topping out at 200 kph, on a similar route.

At a cost of Rs. 66,000 crores, the state government considered this a more viable project and decided to go ahead with it by 2019. This led to the state government approval in mid-2019 and the Union government by the end of the year.

K-rail Promotional Video on the Semi High Speed Rail route

K-rail has also planned to make this a project that is entirely run on green energy.

Timeline and Current Status of the Silver Line

As of January 2020, work on the Detailed Project Report for the Silver Line is under progress. The report is likely to be sent for approval in February 2020.

This tracker will continue to get updated as more information becomes available. Bookmark page to stay updated.

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