Ministry of Railways Following up the Land Acquisition Process with Govt. of Kerala for Angamali – Sabarimala New Line Project

Vinod Bhat

New Delhi: Tirur is presently being served by 90 train services including 20631/20632 Mangaluru Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express, inter alia providing connectivity to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, etc. To facilitate the passengers of Tirur, stoppage of 22475/22476 Hisar-Coimbatore Express has been provided at Tirur w.e.f 28.01.2026. Further, 16329/16330 Nagercoil-Mangaluru Junction Amrit Bharat Express (with scheduled stoppage at Tirur), has also been introduced w.e.f 27.01.2026.

Besides, provision of stoppages of train services depends on the traffic justification, operational feasibility including availability of extra time on the section & availability of matching infrastructure such as Platform length etc.

Angamali – Sabarimala New Line Project

Angamali – Sabarimala  via  Erumeli  new  line  project  was sanctioned in 1997-98 on 50:50 cost sharing basis. Work on Angamali-Kaladi (7 Km) and long lead works on Kaladi-Perumbavoor (10 Km) was taken up. However, further works on this project could not be taken forward due to protests by local people against land acquisition and fixing of alignment of the line, court cases filed against the project and inadequate support from the Government of Kerala. Accordingly, the project was kept under abeyance in Sept, 2019.

Subsequently, to provide connectivity to Sabarimala Shrine, a survey on alternate alignment i.e. Chengannur – Pamba (75 Km) new line was also carried out. However, the project was not found feasible.

Meanwhile, the estimated cost of the Angamali – Sabarimala  via  Erumeli  new  line  project was updated at ₹3,801 crore and submitted to Government of Kerala for the acceptance of the estimate and willingness to share cost of the project.

In August 2024, the Government of Kerala communicated their conditional consent. Government of Kerala was requested by Railway to submit unconditional consent for sharing the cost.

Then the Minister of Railways requested the Chief Minister of Kerala to acquire land using their share of 50% of the cost of the project. Once land acquisition by State starts, work can proceed further.

Now, on the request of Ministry of Railways, the Govt. of Kerala has initiated land acquisition proceedings and the Angamali – Sabarimala new line project has moved forward. Ministry of Railways is following up the land acquisition process with Govt. of Kerala.

Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Kerala including Angamali – Sabarimala project is as under:-

https://x.com/i/status/2019702172381073892

Amrit Bharat Station Scheme

So far, 1,337 stations have been identified for development under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme have been taken up at a good pace.

KD Desk