Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRCL), which has done feasibility study for a high-speed rail corridor between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod in Kerala, has proposed to the Karnataka Government to undertake a similar study between Bangalore and Mysore. In a recent letter to the Chief Minister, Mr D.V. Sadananda Gowda, the DMRCL Principal Adviser, Mr E. Sreedharan, said a high-speed rail corridor between Bangalore and Mysore is eminently justified. Such a corridor will have a total length of about 110 km, instead of the present rail length of 139 km. Trains can be operated up to a speed of 350 km/hour and the distance can be covered within half an hour non-stop, Mr Sreedharan said. He said the feasibility report will bring out the technical standards to be adopted, the route to be followed, expected cost of the line, ridership forecast, funding options, financial viability, project completion period, institutional arrangements for the implementation and legal cover necessary. If the Karnataka Government is interested in this proposal, DMRCL will be happy to offer the terms and conditions for taking up this feasibility survey, which will cost around Rs 50 lakh, he said.

Mr Sreedharan said the Kerala Government had engaged the services of DMRCL for conducting a feasibility study for high speed rail corridor between the State capital and the northern-most district headquarter Kasargod, a distance of about 560 km. The distance can be covered within three hours.

The feasibility study report has already been accepted by the Kerala Government and has again asked Delhi Metro to prepare a detailed project report. While the survey work for the DPR is on, the Central Government as well as the Ministry of Railways too have evinced interest in the project.

Logically, such a high speed rail corridor should be extended from Kasargod to Mangalore/Udupi in Karnataka, which can be taken up separately, Mr. Sreedharan said.

The Kerala project is to take off by April next year and fully commissioned by March 2020, according to Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd, a State Government company. Each train running along the route will have eight coaches (six motorised coaches and two trailers attached to the motorised coaches at both ends). One train could carry 817 passengers a trip. The total cost of the project is expected to be about Rs. 1,18,000 crore on completion.

>anilsastry@thehindu.co.in

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