Thiruvananthapuram: ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan Monday opened an office in Kerala’s Malappuram district for a high-speed rail project, despite the Centre making no such announcement and the state approving its own Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
Inaugurated by his wife Radha Sreedharan, the office in Malappuram district’s Ponnani has a board outside it which reads—’Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Ponnani Office, and Kerala High Speed Railway’.
Sreedharan said the office is working to gain people’s trust, and the survey work for a high-speed rail project will begin shortly.
“I met with the Railway Minister on 16 (January), when we talked about this subject and decided. It doesn’t need an announcement from the Budget,” he said.
In the Union Budget presented Sunday, the Centre announced seven high-speed railway corridors, none of them in Kerala. The proposed corridors are: Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.
Asked about Sreedhararan’s office and a possible high-speed corridor in Kerala, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw didn’t give any clarification. “I will always support Dr E. Sreedharan,” he said Monday at a press conference in New Delhi.
Talking about the seven high-speed corridors announced in the Budget, he said, “This is a big, big step. The first phase was in Ahmedabad. And in the second phase, two are in the north, and five are in the south and western states. As we go forward in this direction, more cities will be connected by high-speed railway.”
Sreedharan opened office days after the Kerala government approved its Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), following the Centre’s refusal to give a go-ahead to the state’s K-Rail project’s detailed project report (DPR) amid protests by public and opposition parties.
Last Friday, Sreedharan criticised the RRTS, calling it an “election stunt” and a “foolish venture”.
“RRTS as a high-speed railway is impractical. If it were between two neighbouring districts, it could have worked. Because its average speed is less, people who know about it will call it a foolish venture,” he told the media.
Sreedharan alleged that the state government deliberately delayed an alternative project to K-Rail (or SilverLine) that he proposed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan—a plan slightly different from the stalled SilverLine. Though the chief minister was satisfied, the proposal was delayed, according to Sreedharan.
A native of Kerala’s Palakkad district, Sreedharan is known for his leadership in the construction of the Delhi Metro, Konkan Railway, and Kochi Metro. After retirement, he briefly entered politics and unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Assembly elections from Palakkad on a BJP ticket.
Also Read: In Pinarayi’s pre-poll Kerala budget, gig hubs, global school and a welfare bonanza
K-Rail and RRTS
The K-Rail, or SilverLine, was an ambitious semi-high-speed rail corridor mooted by the first Pinarayi Vijayan government in 2016 to reduce travel time between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod from 12 hours to four.
Outside the Indian Railways framework, the proposed dedicated system faced stiff opposition not only from locals but also from the BJP and Congress units in Kerala. Eventually, it failed to secure the Centre’s nod, reportedly on “technical grounds”.
Leaving K-Rail behind, the Kerala Cabinet Wednesday gave its in-principle approval for the new 583-km RRTS project.
“Kerala is a land lying along the North-South direction with a narrow breadth. Kerala is as long as two or three European countries combined. Rapid transport facilities along the south–north axis are paramount to the resurrection of Kerala’s economy, market, and culture,” Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal said Thursday while presenting the 2026–27 state budget.
“Our present stand is that the project will be realised despite the obstructions raised by the (Congress-led front) UDF and the BJP,” Balagopal said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Political messaging in Padma awards: Poll-bound Kerala & Bengal figure high in cross-party outreach