Kerala CM: Rail Development Inevitable Despite Opposition

Kozhikode (Kerala), May 20 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday expressed confidence that the railway development of Kerala, such as the SilverLine project, would become a reality--if not today, then tomorrow--despite opposition from opposition parties and the Centre for political reasons.

"No one should think that things will always remain the same. The railway development of our state will become a reality. If not today, then tomorrow," Vijayan said at a press conference held here on the occasion of the fourth anniversary celebrations of his government.

Responding to a query on the Left government's ambitious SilverLine project, which was shelved due to opposition protests, he said that rail development would be possible only with the permission of the central government.

"We thought that if such a project were to take place, no one would oppose it--particularly at a time when the Government of India speaks of the nation's progress through such initiatives. But a very, very unfortunate situation arose. The project was denied permission," the Chief Minister said.

He accused the Centre of "siding" with those who oppose the state government on the SilverLine matter, and said such a stance was taken for political reasons.

Vijayan said when his state government halted the project due to opposition, 'Metroman' E Sreedharan came up with a suggestion on which there were not many differences.

"Although the matter was taken up with the Union Railway Minister by me, and later with the Central Government by the state government's special representative in Delhi, K V Thomas, there has been no response," he lamented.

The SilverLine project is a proposed 529.45 km semi-high-speed rail corridor aimed at connecting Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kasaragod in the north, significantly reducing travel time from 12 hours to under four hours.