Rs 3,000 crore new rail project in Kerala

Set to ease travel in the southern districts

A Rs 3,000 crore regional rapid rail project to run two trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Chengannur and Haripad in Kerala was approved Thursday after Chief Minister Oommen Chandy met top railway officials.

The trains will ease travel in the crowded southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha.

"This project would be a joint initiative of the centre and the state. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) will be submitting a detailed project report by December," said Chandy to reporters after meeting Southern Railway and MRVC officials.

"This project once commissioned will bring down the traffic on the roads in these two sectors," Chandy said.

The project has been designed to supplement the existing trains that run on these sectors, he said.

Chandy asked top railway officials at the meeting to run super fast trains in the northern districts of the state.