E. Sreedharan opens office for high-speed rail project at Ponnani

E. Sreedharan launches an office for a high-speed rail project in Kerala, amidst skepticism from the state government.

Veteran technocrat and former Konkan Railway chairperson E. Sreedharan on Monday opened an office for a proposed high-speed rail project linking the southern and northern ends of Kerala, a plan he said is under consideration by the Union government.

Mr. Sreedharan’s wife Radha inaugurated the office at his hometown Ponnani by lighting the traditional lamp. Mr. Sreedharan claimed that he had been asked by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed ₹1 lakh-crore high-speed rail corridor.

Mr. Sreedharan, widely called Metro Man, said he would proceed with work on the rail project from Monday itself, arguing that waiting for an official declaration from the Union government would result in a loss of valuable time. He had said last week that the Centre would soon announce the project, which aims to connect all four airports in the State.

He said his team would begin examining the 24 locations where stations have been proposed along the high-speed rail route, including the two termini. He said the project survey would be conducted with complete transparency, taking the people into confidence.

Mr. Sreedharan’s move has been viewed with scepticism by the State government and non-BJP parties, particularly since the Central government did not mention the project in its Budget presented on Sunday.

The State government maintains that it is for the Central government or the Union Railway Ministry to announce such an ambitious project, not an individual like Mr. Sreedharan, who had contested the 2021 Assembly election on the BJP ticket from Palakkad but narrowly lost to Congress leader Shafi Parambil.