The preliminary works on the proposed high-speed rail corridor linking Thiruvananthapuram with Mangalore are expected to begin in 2013. The first phase of the project — the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi link — would be ready in five-and-a-half years, according to T. Balakrishnan, chairman and managing director of the Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation.
The high-speed corridor is expected to be commissioned in 2020, and the trains would have an approximate speed of 300 km per hour, he said here on Friday, after inaugurating the Kerala chapter day 2011 and the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Travel Agents' Association of India.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) report on the project is expected in another six months.
Mr. Balakrishnan spoke at length about the availability of a wide choice of technology from around the world and plenteous funds for the project that is estimated to cost Rs.1.18 lakh crore. “We would be able to raise this money since NRK's and others are willing to help. The benefits would be shared by everyone. The average speed of trains in India is 60 km per hour now. The old, existing rails were built for a particular purpose. In many sectors, we are still in the 19th century,” he said.
NEED OF THE HOUR
“The expressway mooted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod should have been built long ago. We cannot be satisfied anymore with incremental progress. The whole of India needs high-speed rail networks and Kerala should be pioneers in the field. Even China has built a massive (high-speed) rail network,” he said and exhorted travel agents to advocate faster and better transportation modes.
On the state of Kerala's tourism sector, he spoke of how Kerala Tourism needed to reinvent itself. Once its best products, the backwaters and ayurveda had become a little stale, he said.
Referring to the challenges faced by travel agents, Mr. Balakrishnan said that travel would never go out of fashion. The sector had bounced back after every crisis since people loved travelling, for leisure or pilgrimage. But stakeholders in the sector must constantly change and adapt to the changing situation.
The others who spoke at the function include Austin Varghese, chairman of the association; K.C. Chandrahasan, former chairman; N.M. Sharafudeen, vice-president; Mary Mohan James, honorary secretary; and Riaz Ahmed, president of Kerala Travel Mart Society. Mr. Chandrahasan spoke of the need to invest in good human resources.
Source-The Hindu
The high-speed corridor is expected to be commissioned in 2020, and the trains would have an approximate speed of 300 km per hour, he said here on Friday, after inaugurating the Kerala chapter day 2011 and the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Travel Agents' Association of India.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) report on the project is expected in another six months.
Mr. Balakrishnan spoke at length about the availability of a wide choice of technology from around the world and plenteous funds for the project that is estimated to cost Rs.1.18 lakh crore. “We would be able to raise this money since NRK's and others are willing to help. The benefits would be shared by everyone. The average speed of trains in India is 60 km per hour now. The old, existing rails were built for a particular purpose. In many sectors, we are still in the 19th century,” he said.
NEED OF THE HOUR
“The expressway mooted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod should have been built long ago. We cannot be satisfied anymore with incremental progress. The whole of India needs high-speed rail networks and Kerala should be pioneers in the field. Even China has built a massive (high-speed) rail network,” he said and exhorted travel agents to advocate faster and better transportation modes.
On the state of Kerala's tourism sector, he spoke of how Kerala Tourism needed to reinvent itself. Once its best products, the backwaters and ayurveda had become a little stale, he said.
Referring to the challenges faced by travel agents, Mr. Balakrishnan said that travel would never go out of fashion. The sector had bounced back after every crisis since people loved travelling, for leisure or pilgrimage. But stakeholders in the sector must constantly change and adapt to the changing situation.
The others who spoke at the function include Austin Varghese, chairman of the association; K.C. Chandrahasan, former chairman; N.M. Sharafudeen, vice-president; Mary Mohan James, honorary secretary; and Riaz Ahmed, president of Kerala Travel Mart Society. Mr. Chandrahasan spoke of the need to invest in good human resources.
Source-The Hindu
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