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The Kerala authorities is considering a connection submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for a high-speed obstruction corridor linking Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur.
The project, named Kerala High Speed Railway (KHSR), was prepared by seasoned technocrat E. Sreedharan arsenic an alternate to the erstwhile Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s K-Rail proposal.
A four-member adept committee has been constituted to analyse the technical, fiscal and biology aspects of the task and taxable its recommendations wrong 3 weeks.
Transport Secretary K. Biju volition service arsenic convener. J. Vinayan, C. Veeramani and Sreedhar Radhakrishnan person been appointed arsenic experts successful railways, concern and situation respectively. N.S.K. Umesh, serviceman connected peculiar work to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, volition assistance the committee.
A authorities bid issued connected June 5, 2026, said the sheet would measure the project’s method feasibility, fiscal viability, biology impact, implementation challenges and socio-economic benefits.
The projected 473.2-km double-line corridor volition link Poojapura successful Thiruvananthapuram with Mundayad successful Kannur done 23 stations. The alignment volition beryllium elevated throughout, but for a 6.5-km underground conception successful Thiruvananthapuram city. Travel clip betwixt the 2 cities is estimated astatine 3 hours and 30 minutes.
The standard-gauge corridor volition service 3 of Kerala’s 4 airports directly, portion Kannur airdrome volition beryllium connected done a dedicated 10-km entree road.
According to the DMRC’s interim report, the usage of modular gauge would licence a little axle load of 15 tonnes compared with 25 tonnes connected wide gauge, reducing operation and operating costs.
The mean region betwixt stations is 21.5 km. Trains volition person a plan velocity of 200 kmph, an operational velocity of 180 kmph and an mean commercialized velocity of 140 kmph.
Services volition initially run with 12-coach trains accommodating 800 seated passengers. Platforms volition beryllium designed to accommodate aboriginal enlargement to 16 coaches.
During the archetypal phase, trains are projected to tally each 20 minutes during highest hours and each 40 minutes during off-peak hours, with a regular carrying capableness of 54,400 passengers. Capacity could beryllium accrued to 2.28 lakh passengers a time done higher work frequencies. All question volition beryllium connected reserved seating.
The task proposes acquisition of a 20-metre-wide corridor for construction. Surplus onshore whitethorn beryllium leased backmost to archetypal owners aft construction, taxable to specified conditions.
The full powerfulness request is projected to beryllium met done a captive star powerfulness system, with surplus energy supplied to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
Estimated cost
The task outgo is estimated astatine ₹60,000 crore. Of this, ₹36,000 crore is projected to beryllium funded done equity contributions from the Centre and the State successful a 51:49 ratio, portion the remaining ₹24,000 crore is projected to beryllium raised done crowdfunding. The mean operation outgo is estimated astatine ₹127 crore per kilometre.
According to Mr. Sreedharan, the task tin beryllium completed wrong 5 years of approval.
Future plans see extending the corridor to Kasaragod and processing subdivision lines linking Kozhikode and Kalpetta, Pattambi and Palakkad, and Thrissur and Palakkad.
