Kochi

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed two pleas against the land acquisition for the State Government's proposed 'SileverLine' semi-high speed rail project.

A single-judge bench of Justice N Nagaresh dismissed the pleas which argued that the notification regarding land acquisition is not legal. The court accepted the state government's contention that the Central Government's notification was not required for land acquisition as SilverLine was not a special project of the Railways. The pleas also sought direction to stop the survey procedures and stone layings for land acquisition.

The 529-km SilverLine railway project will link Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kasaragod in north Kerala, covering 11 districts through 11 stations. The journey between two stations is expected to take four hours, whereas it currently takes 12 hours.

The project is also being opposed by Congress-led UDF, which has been alleging that the project is "unscientific and impractical" and will put a huge financial burden on the state.