Aerial survey for semi high-speed rail corridor completed

Thiruvananthapuram: An aerial survey to identify the alignment of ambitious Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Semi High-Speed Rail Corridor project, also called Silver Line, has been completed. The project is to be executed by KRDCL, a joint venture of the state government and the ministry of railways.

The survey which began on December 31 checked the entire 532 km stretch, marking the first vital step the project that aims to reduce the end-to-end travel time across the state to just four hours.

The first day of the survey was from Kannur to Kasargod and reached Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing method was used for the survey that was conducted on a Partenavia P.68 aircraft.

The survey is being carried out by Hyderabad-based Geokno India Private Limited.

The project had obtained in-principle approval from the Centre on December 17.

The civil aviation director-general and the Ministry of Defence had given clearance for the week-long survey.

KRDC will shortly prepare a detailed project report (DPR) based on the survey.

A wide range of three-dimension images and data of the ground such as Digital Elevation Model, Digital Terrain Model, Digital Surface Model, L-sections and Contour Topogrophical Mapping were obtained through the survey. These are required for the engineering design of the line.