Kerala Rail Development Corporation proposes extending Sabari rail to Thiruvananthapuram, Vizhinjam port

The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), the special purpose vehicle for executing viable rail projects in Kerala on a cost-sharing basis with the Railways, has recommended to the Kerala government a proposal of extending the proposed Angamaly-Erumely Sabari line to Punalur and further up to Thiruvananthapuram and the Vizhinjam international seaport.

The proposal for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the extension of the Sabari line to Punalur and further up to Thiruvananthapuram was earlier taken up in the board meeting of KRDCL in 2021.

It was then decided that KRDCL can go ahead with preparation of the DPR for the Erumeli-Punalur line after defreezing of the Angamaly-Erumely Sabari Railway line. With the Kerala government now taking a decision to go ahead with the Angamaly-Erumely line, the proposal for taking up the feasibility study for the extension of the line to Thiruvananthapuram may be considered by the State, said a letter sent by the KRDCL to the Kerala government.

Survey sanctioned

The Railways had earlier sanctioned a survey for the extension of the proposed Angamaly-Erumely Sabari line from Erumely to Thiruvananthapuram. The preliminary survey was carried out by the Railways in 2013. However, the project did not come through due to a poor rate of returns.

According to the letter, the traffic scenario in Kerala has undergone drastic changes since then. The density of traffic in this sector has multiplied. The travel time along the M.C. Road has increased manifold due to traffic blocks at many locations and also along the entire alignment in general..

When the cargo traffic from Vizhinjam international seaport picks up, the traffic on the M.C. Road is expected to become even more unmanageable. The earlier proposed Punalur-Thiruvananthapuram new railway line, if taken up, is expected to be a game-changer in Kerala’s transport history, along with easing traffic congestion and drastically reducing the carbon footprint in the sector, said the letter.

An alignment connecting 13 major towns/stations from Erumely to Balaramapuram will be approximately 160 km long as against the road alignment of 153 km. The important aspect of this alignment is that it will bring Nedumangad into the rail map of Kerala. This will be as per the Railways’ latest norms for connecting all towns with a population of 50,000 or more to the rail map of India, said the letter.

The new line can also be planned for a higher speed potential than the existing line, since realignment of the existing line to increase the speed will practically be a non-starter due to the presence of a large number of sharp curves. The feasibility of including this project under the Rail Sagar Scheme also can be explored, said the letter.