The story so far: In Kerala, a new semi-high speed railway, expected to cruise at an average speed of 125 kmph has been proposed. Set to travel the 420-km Thiruvanthapuram-Kannur north-south corridor, the trains are slated to cover the distance in three and a half hours. The alignment for the trains will be largely that of the alignment suggested in 2015 for the high-speed rail corridor.
What is the new rail project?
The approximately ₹1 lakh crore semi-high speed train project on standard gauge track was mooted recently by technocrat E. Sreedharan, a day after Kerala’s Representative in New Delhi K.V. Thomas called on him to elicit suggestions on a high-speed rail corridor. The new proposal is being projected as an alternative to the ₹64,000 crore Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod SilverLineproject, which was to cover the 530-km distance at an average speed of about 135 kmph, as per the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL).