Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday announced that the state government has decided to formally scrap the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project, a flagship initiative proposed by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration.
Addressing a press conference after a Cabinet meeting chaired by him, Satheesan said all land acquisition notifications issued for the project would be withdrawn. He also stated that the government would recommend the withdrawal of criminal cases registered against those who protested the project, subject to court approval.
“The Cabinet has decided to abandon the Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod semi-high-speed rail corridor project known as SilverLine,” the Chief Minister said at the start of the briefing.
The 530-km SilverLine corridor, proposed by K-Rail—a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways—was envisioned to reduce travel time between the northern and southern ends of the state to around four hours.
The project had triggered widespread protests across Kerala, particularly led by the Congress and UDF workers. Demonstrators had opposed land acquisition measures and, in several places, uprooted and removed the yellow survey markers installed for the project.
Satheesan said the government decided to denotify the land acquisition proceedings because the project had already been abandoned, leaving affected landowners unable to carry out transactions involving their properties.
He said that since the state government dropped the project, the Centre also did not grant approval for it. Consequently, all notifications and advertisements issued in connection with land acquisition for SilverLine would now be revoked.
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Regarding the cases registered during protests against the project, the Chief Minister said the Home Department would review them and recommend withdrawal depending on the nature of each case. “The court’s permission will be required to withdraw the cases,” he added.
The CM also said the Revenue Department had been directed to remove the yellow concrete markers placed across various parts of the state during the land acquisition process.
Satheesan clarified that the United Democratic Front (UDF) was not opposed to the idea of a high-speed rail corridor in principle, provided it did not impose financial or environmental burdens on Kerala.
“We opposed SilverLine because it lacked even a proper Detailed Project Report (DPR). If implemented, it would have created a serious environmental crisis, with 30-foot-high embankments planned along 300 km and 10-foot-high walls along another 200 km of the corridor,” he said. “During the monsoon season, it could have turned into a major environmental disaster. It was not a sustainable project,” he contended.
According to him, the UDF concluded after consulting experts from multiple fields that the project was not viable. He also criticised the previous LDF government for failing to officially denotify the project despite having effectively abandoned it earlier.
During the press conference, Satheesan further announced that the Cabinet had decided to extend the validity of Public Service Commission (PSC) rank lists until November 30, citing the lack of appointments during the election period.
All PSC rank lists scheduled to expire by August 31 would now remain valid until November 30, and necessary instructions would be issued to the PSC, he said. The Chief Minister noted that rank list validity is usually not extended, but the elections and related administrative work had delayed recruitment processes this time.
“The absence of appointments caused disappointment and hardship among many young people,” he said. Referring to the UDF manifesto, Satheesan said its promises would now be distributed among various government departments for implementation under a programme named “Vision 2031”.
“We have directed departments to immediately begin implementing all manifesto promises so they can be completed before the government’s term ends in 2031,” he said. He added that during the first 100 days beginning June 1, the government would prioritise promises that could be implemented quickly with minimal procedural intervention.
The Cabinet also decided to form a sub-committee to recommend names for Padma awards to the Centre, the Chief Minister said. In addition, the Cabinet approved the appointment of advocate Mohammed Shah as the Additional Advocate General in the Kerala High Court, Satheesan added.
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