Kerala SilverLine project: E. Sreedharan accuses LDF Government of making an impossible financial commitment

The noted engineer says the Kerala Government is trying to bypass the Railway Board by offering to bear the entire cost of the SilverLine project

Noted engineer E. Sreedharan, who unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly elections as a BJP candidate, has accused the State Government of trying to bypass the Railway Board by offering to bear the entire cost of the SilverLine project to construct a semi-high speed railway line from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. Terming the project a great folly, he said: “Who authorised this Government to make this impossible commitment? Not our MLAs.”

In a note issued to the press, Mr. Sreedharan said the project was totally against the interests of the State for several reasons, including flawed alignment and technical parameters, wrong cost estimate and unrealistic schedule of competition. The SilverLine would cost ₹75,000 cr at present and more than ₹1,10,000 cr on completion based on the last accepted rates of Delhi Rapid Rail Transit (RRTS), which has a maximum speed of 180 kmph, he said.