The Ministry of Railways (MoR) has decided to undertake survey and prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for seven high speed rail corridors, connecting major cities across the country, said the Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnav in parliament today. But Kerala doesn’t feature in the list:
The high speed rail corridors proposed for making DPRs are: Delhi – Varanasi, Delhi – Amritsar, Delhi – Ahmedabad, Mumbai – Nagpur- Mumbai – Hyderabad., Chennai – Bangalore – Mysore and Varanasi – Howrah.
Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail is the only sanctioned high speed rail project in the country being executed with technical & financial assistance of the Government of Japan. The current status of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project is as under:- All statutory clearances relating to wildlife, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and forest clearance have been obtained. Out of total land requirement of approximately 1396 ha., about 1193 ha. land has been acquired. The entire project has been divided into 27 Contract packages. At present, 12 packages have been awarded, 3 are under evaluation and Tenders has been invited for 4 packages.
Out of total 352 KM length in Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH), civil works in 342 KM length have started The anticipated cost increase and timeline can be fully ascertained only after completion of land acquisition and finalisation of all contracts
