The story so far: The Kerala Government faces severe resistance at several places as it begins laying survey stones for the 530-km SilverLine semi-high speed rail corridor to be built between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. The idea of a high speed rail corridor in Kerala was first mooted in 2009, and a detailed project report (DPR) was prepared from 2012 to 2016. In 2017, the Government of Kerala decided to go for a semi-high speed project, which is expected to reduce travel time in this stretch from 12 hours to four hours. The Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail), a Centre-State joint venture agency, has been tasked with conceiving and executing the ₹63,941 crore project, which is yet to get final sanction though the DPR has got an in-principle nod.

The route passes through 11 of 14 districts of the State, with a station in each district, barring Ernakulam where an additional station will be added near the international airport located 25 km from the city. Trains operating at up to 200 kmph will initially operate every 30 minutes, in a State where the average speed of trains is 45 kmph. The fare has tentatively been fixed at ₹2.75 per km, a little above the regular AC train fare. A total of 88 km of the viaduct would be elevated – hovering mostly over paddy fields. The State Government began laying survey stones on the alignment over a month ago, with workers even scaling the compound walls of houses whose gates were locked. Plot owners have vehemently protested against this at many places.

A bulk of the ₹63,941 crore is expected to be raised as overseas soft loan. The Centre’s reluctance to give sovereign guarantee had invited criticism. The State Government has agreed to bear the land acquisition cost of approximately ₹13,700 crore.

There are several concerns around the project. Critics feel that the massive cost will push the State further into debt. There is scepticism about the projected passenger patronage. But most of all, there are environmental concerns in the backdrop of the 2018 deluge that inundated almost the entire State. There’s fear that the project’s embankment will divide the State into two and stifle free movement of water. The need to bore hills – for the viaduct and to source aggregate and mud for the project -- and evict/rehabilitate people living in the approximately 1,200 hectares that would have to be acquired, are also a cause for concern.

The K-Rail SilverLine Virudha Janakeeya Samity, which includes a clutch of organisations opposed to the project, cite a plethora of environmental concerns, including possible damage to wetlands and the need for extensive mining in ecologically-fragile areas to source mud. Environmentalist Medha Patkar was among those who addressed a protest organised in Thrissur earlier this month. ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan also stated that SilverLine as a project will yield little in return.

The K-Rail has zeroed in on standard-gauge rails, stating that trains cannot attain speed of over 160 kmph through broad-gauge tracks that are the norm pan-India. It also cites other States adopting standard gauge for their upcoming high-speed rail corridors.

Staunch and vociferous critics of SilverLine, like Alok Verma, who retired as Chief Engineer from the Railways and was initially associated with readying the project’s feasibility study, say that the choice of standard-gauge track is the prime reason he feels let down by the project. He claims SilverLine would end up as a stand-alone project, since trains that can operate through broad gauge at a speed of up to 160 kmph will be unable to use the costly viaduct. Critics point out that speedy completion of the long-overdue track doubling through Kottayam and Alappuzha, and the establishment of a third track beside the existing ones and upgradation of the signal system, could increase the speed of trains in Kerala, and for that the SilverLine project is not required.

With the Centre and the Railway Board yet to give the final go-ahead to the project, the LDF Government terms it a denial of an opportunity for Kerala to roll out a fast, reliable, comfortable, energy efficient and eco-friendly mode of commuting. The Congress and the BJP are on the warpath, terming the project as one intended to squander public funds. They too cite the need to upgrade the existing rail network, which they say can be done at a fraction of the cost of SilverLine.

Refuting concerns and allegations of critics, the Managing Director of K-Rail, V. Ajithkumar, says the project will need approximately 50 % less mud and aggregate for its embankment and for the 88 km elevated tracks, than that would be needed for a 45-metre-wide National Highway (NHs across the State are being widened to six-lane, while a new NH has been mooted on the eastern side). In addition, the viaduct would have a width ranging from 15 metres to 25 metres. He further points to the influx of cars and other vehicles through highways and their link roads, worsening congestion, pollution levels and increasing accidents in the State that already has over a crore of vehicles and a very high accident rate, in the absence of a reliable alternative like SilverLine.

He further claimed the project’s embankment will be at much the same height as that of the existing rail corridor from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. Dispelling environment concerns, he said a comprehensive EIA (environmental impact assessment) study by a New Delhi-based agency is underway, although it is not required for railway projects.