Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station (@RailMinIndia/Twitter)The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) has selected Hyderabad-based GeoKno India Private Ltd to carry out the survey of the proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SHSR) line.
GeoKno had conducted similar surveys for Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Rail Line.
KRDCL recently received clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for conduct of aerial survey of the proposed SHSR line.
The Ministry of Defence had earlier given its go-ahead for the survey by deploying helicopters, based on strict standard stipulations such as skipping photography of specified strategically significant sites and installations. The Defence Ministry’s clearance was a prerequiste for the commisioning the survey as certain strategically significant sites fall within the ambit of the area to be covered.
KRDCL is a joint venture company formed by the Government of Kerala and Indian Railways. A 51 to 49 ratio equity partnership between the Government of Kerala and the Ministry of Railways, KRDCL aims to develop Railway infrastructure in the State of Kerala.
The 500 km Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SHSR) corridor is envisaged to be built alongside the coastline traversing almost the entire length of the state and is estimated to cost over Rs 50,000 Crore. The Railways is planning to operate semi-high speed trains, which travel at a speed of 100-150 km per hour, on this corridor.
The high-speed corridor will also run short distance trains that will facilitate local travel between major cities and suburbs. The corridor is expected to reduce the journey time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod from 12-15 hours to 4.5 hours.
The existing railway line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod is highly saturated and due to sharp curves and older alignment, the average sectional speed of Mail/Express trains are limited to 45 Kmph.
KDRCL has already signed a consultancy contract for Rs 27 crore with Paris-headquartered company Systra to prepare a DPR (detailed project report) for the Kasargode-Thiruvananthapuram High Speed Rail Corridor.
SYSTRA is an international engineering and consulting group specialising in rail (passenger and freight) and public transport. It provides planning, design, project management and supervision services for transport systems, urban infrastructure, residential, commercial and industrial real estate.
SYSTRA has a strong presence in India and is working on several rail projects currently.
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