Bairabi-Sairang rail deepens Kerala’s apprehension about Centre’s stance on SilverLine

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s remarks that the political stances of the Centre have diminished the prospects of the SilverLine project have once again turned the spotlight on the initiative at a time when similar projects are being built in other parts of the country.

The project specifics of the recently inaugurated Bairabi-Sairang railway line in the northeast confirms that the initiative is more environmentally challenging and detrimental than the SilverLine semi-high-speed project. 

The Bairabi-Sairang project in Mizoram is an ₹,8071-crore initiative commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13, 2025. The first phase of the rail project was one of the most daunting tasks in the history of Indian Railways with the rail link navigating through 48 tunnels and crossing 143 bridges, including some of the highest railway viaducts in the most challenging terrain. 

In just 52 km distance, 55 major bridges and 88 minor bridges were constructed, along with 45 tunnels, includingcut and cover spanning 15.85 km, which is around 30.92% of the total project length, as the railway line had to pass through steep slopes, deep valleys between mountains, and dense forests in a highly landslip-prone terrain, which made the construction a Herculean task. The project also boasts of the second tallest pier bridge in the country, taller than Qutub Minar.

Further, according to sources in the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), a survey is under way for a second phase of the 223-km proposed line from Sairang to Hbichhuah near the Myanmar border in southern Mizoram. After the survey, a detailed project report (DPR) will be sent to the Union Ministry of Railways for examination. If the report is found to be feasible, the project would be taken up, said the sources. 

On the other hand, the 530-km SilverLine has hardly 11.53 km of tunnels, and the entire length of the bridge would be 12.99 km as per the DPR by the Kerala government. The SilverLine project mainly passes through viaducts—88.41 km (16.61%) —and embankments—292.73 km (55%). If around 482 ha were acquired for the first phase of the Bairabi-Sairang rail link (52 km), the 530 km SilverLine requires only 1,383 ha. If the Bairabi-Sairang project and its proposed extension serve around 10.97 lakh people in Mizoram, as per the 2011 census data, the proposed semi-high-speed rail project in Kerala will benefit 3.34 crore people. 

Transformation of of Mizoram

Speaking to The Hindu during a visit toRaj Bhavan, Aizawl, Mizoram Governor V.K. Singh said the rail project will transform the future of Mizoram, including tourism, ease transportation, and slash costs of goods and logistics. Further, plans are afoot to integrate the railway line with the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project.

Though the SilverLine project has the potential to reshape the economy of Kerala and its social fabric, the Centre has been dragging its feet, initially citing environmental concerns.Recently, the Centre has asked Kerala to revise the DPR to address the technical and environmental concerns and also to integrate the project with the existing broad gauge line passing through the State, which has around 627 curves where the average speed of a passenger train is hardly 45 kmph, including Vande Bharat (73kmph).

“We cannot accept this suggestion as it is aimed at shelving the project for political gains,” said a senior bureaucrat of the State.