THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government is pinning its hopes on the Railway budget to be presented on Thursday to take the long-pending suburban rail corridor to the next level.

There are reports that the Indian Railways is planning a new policy to form Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) with state governments to implement similar projects. The finance ministry has already promised funding for the project, estimated to cost around Rs 3,055 crore in the initial phase.

Mr Biju Prabhakar, Thiruvananthapuram district collector and nodal officer of suburban rail project, told DC that the Railways was positive about the project.

“The state government is in constant touch with the centre and the Chief Minister has written two letters to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu recently to consider the suburban rail. We expect a favourable announcement in this year’s budget,” said Mr Prabhakar.

The centre’s policy was in favour of the state, he said. The SPV is a must for the project and the state cannot implement it without the co-operation of Railways.

“Once the project gets the clearance, the state will transfer the funds to the Indian Railways, which has the expertise and resource to execute the suburban rail corridor project. The state will require a minimum of six months to raise the fund,” he said.

Once the project is implemented, a commuter can cover 125 km in less than two hours. As per the survey carried out by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), 76 percent of the bus commuters are ready to switch over to the suburban rail.

The MRVC submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of suburban rail in 2013. The state Planning Board has recommended the implementation of the project in a 50-50 partnership by the state government and Indian Railways.