Kerala: Talks still on to settle third line for Rapid Rail Transit System

Kochi: The officials of the state government and the railways are holding talks to iron out differences after the latter insisted on for a third line to be constructed along the 126-km stretch between Thiruvananthapuram and Chengannur for setting up the Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS). “Two rounds of talks have been completed wherein we’ve cleared certain doubts of railways over local passenger traffic, viable route and other details. Though a common ground is visible, there are still differences with regard to the project implementation. Two more meetings are scheduled to be conducted in the coming days,” said Chief Secretary S M Vijayanand.

Earlier, the state had rejected the railway’s suggestion for a separate track for conducting the sub-urban services, terming the proposal as “costly and not feasible”. “The railways want us to build an additional line saying it would take care of the new signaling system. However, it requires construction of bridges, RoBs and land acquisition at several stretches which will be a very costly affair. The possibility of upgrading existing rail network should be given a serious thought,” the official said. The suburban railways is among the prioritised projects to be taken up on cost-sharing basis between the State and Railways for which a joint venture company was set up.