The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala has come out with a new strategy to revive the 532 km long Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi-high speed rail project, which has hit a road block following widespread opposition from the general public because of environmental and ecological hazards as well as displacement of  thousands of households from the regions through which the rail track passes.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has proposed to extend the rail track to Mangalore in Karnataka thereby bringing that State as a beneficiary of the project. The CPI(M) and Vijayan hope that by roping in Karnataka, the Centre’s opposition to the project could be resolved. Following Saturday’s conference of chief ministers from the Southern States at Thiruvananthapuram which was presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kerala has sounded the Government of Karnataka about the new proposal.

Vijayan has succeeded in mobilizing the support of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin who has reportedly demanded the Centre for a high-speed rail corridor in his State linking Chennai. Thoothukudi, Madurai and Coimbatore. The Indian Railways as well as the Central Government had recently told the Kerala High Court that no approval has been given to the Semi High Speed Rail Linking Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod which the Kerala Government claims would bring down the travelling time to five hours.

Alok Kumar Varma, former chief engineer of Indian Railways while welcoming the move to have a high speed rail corridor linking the three South Indian States said the sudden change of mind of chief minister Vijayan is because he has understood the futility of the K-Rail as the semi high speed rail project is known.

“A stand alone rail line linking the three States would be another failure because the Kerala Government is still obsessed with the standard gauge which has become a museum piece. Let then go ahead with the broad gauge track so that the entire rail tracks in the country get benefited. We cannot have one railway system for South India and another for rest of the country,” Varma told The Pioneer.

He said the Kerala Government had initially thought of Bullet Trains but gave it up and switched over to the Japanese technology. “It was all based on bogus, fabricated and false detailed project reports. All studies have found that neither the bullet train nor the K-Rail projects would materialize in Kerala because of environmental issues, density of population and lack of space.

Now that Indian Railways has decided to add a third track between Ernakulam and Shornur, it would be ideal if they dump the K-Rail and opt for broad gauge high speed connectivity, a proven technology,” said Varma.