KV Thomas meets E Sreedharan, discusses Kerala’s rail development, including SilverLine

Kochi: Kerala Government's special representative in Delhi, Prof KV Thomas, met BJP leader and acclaimed engineer E Sreedharan on Sunday at the latter's Ponnani's residence. Railway development, including the now-shelved SilverLine semi-high speed rail corridor was during the meeting that lasted for more than an hour. 

Before the meeting, Thomas said that besides SilverLine, Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari rail, mending the bent railway lines in the state as well as the delay in other trains after Vande Bharat's arrival will be part of the discussions. He added that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was aware of the meeting.

Earlier, Pinarayi and CPM leaders reiterated that SilverLine is not a closed chapter and the union government will have to approve high speed rail for Kerala in the near future. The Detailed Project Report for the project is now pending with the union rail ministry. Railway minister also confirmed that discussions are ongoing and the project is not rejected.

However, Sreedharan in the past has not hidden his opposition to the project over technical and financial grounds. Though he supports a high-speed rail project in the state, he met the prime minister and railway minister along with BJP leaders from the state to appraise them against the SilverLine project.

When asked about the opposition of Sreedharan, Thomas said, “With the advent of Vande Bharat, E Sreedharan made the demand for more high speed trains. His earlier stance against SilverLine is irrelevant. SilverLine is not a shelved project. Problems in the implementation of the project must be resolved and this is what will be discussed with Sreedharan.”

The government is hoping to rope in Sreedharan to quell opposition to the project and open a channel with the union government regarding pending rail projects in the state.