Don't leave out Kasargod, extend proposed Vande Bharat up to Mangalore in Karnataka: UDF to railway ministry

UDF in Kerala has urged Centre that the Vande Bharat train service to be launched in Kerala to not leave out Kasargod and should be extended till Mangaluru.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan sent a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in this regard on Sunday. He said that as per reports the Vande Bharat service in Kerala was proposed between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. It shall be extended to Mangaluru so that Kasargod district in Kerala would also get connectivity. He also urged that steps should be taken to straighten the curves on the railway track so that Vande Bharat train could run at the maximum speed.

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Meanwhile, the ruling CPM in Kerala is maintaining that it would go ahead with the proposed SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan said that the Vande Bharat could not be an alternative for the Silver Line.

"There will be only one service of Vande Bharat daily, whereas the proposed Silver Line will have services every 20 minutes. Also Vande Bharat's speed is low compared to the proposed SilverLine. Hence Vande Bharat could not be considered as an alternative for the proposed Silver Line. SilverLine is a necessity for Kerala in future," he said.

The CPM leader's reaction came while the BJP was trying to take political advantage of the decision to launch Vande Bharat service in Kerala. CPM camps had also unleashed a campaign that the ticket charges of Vande Bharat would be much higher compared to the charges of the proposed SilverLine.

The CPM government's proposed SilverLine greenfield rail project has been facing stiff resistance as it required massive displacement of people for acquiring the land. Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been stern in taking forward the project, the Centre is yet to give nod for the project. The railways was also objecting to the SilverLine project as land identified for the project was close to the existing railway lines at many places. Hence it may affect future expansion of railways.

The cost estimate of over Rs. 1 lakh crore for the Silver Line project also raised concerns as the state is going through acute financial crunch.

Experts had suggested that instead of going for a new rail project efforts should be made to straighten the curves in the existing rail line so as to enable operation of high speed trains.