The field survey for the 531.45-km semi-high-speed railway line from Kochuveli, near Thiruvananthapuram, to Kasaragod will be carried out by Hyderabad-based GeoKno using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a remote sensing survey method for examining the terrain using aircraft.
While awarding the survey on Wednesday, Kerala Railway Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), the special purpose vehicle set up to execute viable projects on a cost-sharing basis between the State and Railways, has asked GeoKno to complete the survey in three months.
GeoKno India Pvt. Ltd., incubated at IIT Kanpur in 2006, was acquired by the GMR Group, an infrastructure major, in 2012. GeoKno pipped Hyderabad-based IIC Technologies Ltd to bag the survey for less than Rs2 crore in the bids floated by the KRDCL.
GeoKno has been asked to provide all parameters for going ahead with the project, Managing Director, KRDCL, V. Ajith Kumar told The Hindu. A fresh traffic study, soil investigation, and environment impact assessment will have to be carried out.
Yet to give nod
However, the government is yet to give the nod for the revised alignment.
The initial 300 km of the third and fourth railway lines, from Kochuveli to Thrissur, will be mostly parallel to the existing railway track. From Thirunavaya to Kasaragod, it will be parallel to the existing line with railway bypasses at Vadakara and Thalassery as proposed in the feasibility report submitted by Paris-based engineering and consulting group Systra.
Only after the alignment is approved, the official said, the feasibility report can be forwarded to the Railway Board for clearance. Already, the line had been found ‘feasible and financially viable’ by Systra. The estimated cost is Rs.56,000 crore, including cost of land acquisition. The KRDCL is gearing up for preparing the DPR by October.