K-Rail SilverLine Semi HSR Project Is Flawed, and Kerala Deserves Better

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For a flagship project with the potential to become the backbone of Kerala’s transport infrastructure, K-Rail‘s SilverLine keeps running into red signals. 12 years after the first proposal, it still dangles between state and union government bureaucracies.

Ironic, for a high-speed rail project.

K-Rail’s SilverLine was originally conceived as a proper high-speed line operating at 320 kmph. However, it was inexplicably downgraded to a 200 kmph semi-high-speed rail project within a couple of years of inception.

The E5 series trainset operating on Japan’s Shinkansen network and to be imported for the Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project.

A high-intensity negative ‘pro-poor’ campaign around the 1.2 lakh crore rupee Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR (MAHSR) project may have influenced the state’s decision. In retrospect, it was a bad move. The Union government and the governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra went ahead anyway. The project, though delayed by land acquisition hassles, is now under construction.

SilverLine is now stuck with a fundamental flaw. Planned service speed was downgraded, but the project’s standard gauge plan was retained. This means it cannot be physically linked to Indian Railways’ existing network. Nor can it become a useful part of the upcoming national HSR network.

Stranger still is the plan to run alongside the existing Indian Railways line for long stretches. K-Rail also seems unwilling to take SilverLine deep into major cities like Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. NHSRCL has done better with MAHSR, with the HSR going to the centre of Mumbai, Vadodara and Ahmedabad. Time saved for passengers despite additional costs will likely be worth it.

In effect, Kerala wants to invest around 70,000 crores to build an isolated network. Kerala deserves better.

Kerala Should Revisit 320 kmph High Speed Rail

The state should go back to the original plan of a 320 kmph high-speed rail system. Spending 1.5 lakh crores on a bleeding-edge 320 kmph line might prove better value than spending at least half that amount on a slower, lower-tech network. K-Rail can also do better with the planned alignment. In effect, a fresh look at the project is needed.

HSR will compress intra-state travel times dramatically. Being able to move across the state in a mere couple of hours, and between key cities in half an hour, will be of great value. A faster rail system in highly urbanized Kerala will save costs, boost industry and tourism over the long term. The environmental benefits of getting people to switch to public transport are already well established.

SilverLine Travel Time Compared

DistanceSilverLine
Semi HSR
HSRIndian RailwaysRoad
Speed200 kmph320 kmph110-120 kmph
Travel Time
Thiruvananthapuram
to Kasargode
530 km3:52 hours2:20 hours*9 hours13:15 hours
Thiruvananthapuram
to Ernakulam
195 km1:26 hours0:47 hours*3:05 hours5:15 hours
Thiruvananthapuram
to Kozhikode
358 km2:37 hours1:26 hours*6:42 hours9:15 hours
*Assuming average speed of 250 kmph. Semi HSR travel time estimates from K-Rail

Like MAHSR, K-Rail could theoretically add more stations to the route and introduce ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ services with different stoppage patterns to collect short-distance traffic.

Much has changed since the time Kerala’s HSR was first proposed and then downgraded to a semi-HSR. A coherent National Rail Plan now exists in the place of randomly sprouting proposals. The Union government is already working on several new HSR routes. A SilverLine HSR should be one of them.

If it could be done before, it can be done again. Time to go back to the original plan.

Author: Gopal Gwalabanshi

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This Post Has One Comment

  1. Existing railway corridor needs to improve to increase the speed of service and more number of trains. Remaining huge savings to be used for sestablishing medical colleges, engineering colleges and IITs.

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