DMRC to provide consultancy for high-speed rail corridor in Kerala

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will provide consultancy services for the construction of a proposed high-speed rail corridor in Kerala between state capital Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod.

A press release from DMRC said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed here today by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) Managing Director Alkesh Sharma and DMRC Director (Works) Mangu Singh in the presence of DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan.

According to the release, this is DMRC’s first ever consultancy project for a high speed rail corridor and it plans to engage Japanese experts, who have been associated with bullet trains, during the study. So far, DMRC has provided consultancy for the construction of Metro corridors in many cities of the country.

As per the MoU, the DMRC will provide its consultancy for conducting a pre- feasibility study for the establishment of this 550-kilometre long rail corridor.

While the traffic study report has to be submitted within three months from the date of agreement, the draft pre-feasibility report has to be submitted within five months and the final pre-feasibility report will be submitted within six months from the date of the signing of the agreement. The total cost of preparing the report will be Rs 10 crore.

Trains will run at a speed of about 275-300 kilometres per hour on this standard gauge (1,435 mm) corridor. Initially, eight stations have been planeed which are: Thiruvananthapuram, Quilon, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Calicut, Kannur and Kasaragod.

Three more stations at Chengannur, Tirur and Thalassery may also be constructed in the future. The average distance between these stations will be 70 to 80 kilometres, the release added.

NNN