The Kerala state government has released the detailed project report (DPR) of the semi high-speed SilverLine rail project, Manorama reports.
At the cost of Rs 63,940 crore, the project is expected to be commissioned in 2025-26, and SilverLine is slated to cut down the travelling time between Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod to four hours from 12 hours.
Traffic has been shooting up at a rate of about 10 per cent-11 per cent in the state, which has resulted in a lot of road congestion over the years.
“Hence, the necessity for developing SilverLine corridors has been felt to cater to the needs of a rapidly growing and expanding economy and thereby curb the high road-based greenhouse gas emissions,” the DPR of the project reads, as quoted by the publication mentioned above.
Spread over 529.45 km, the project spans Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur before entering the Kasaragod district.
The daily rider of approximately 79,934 is anticipated on the SilverLine in 2025, and it is projected to double up in the following 25-27 years.
The maximum operating speed of their trains will be about 200 km/hr, and some of them will even function on the public-private partnership (PPP) model.