Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 2 -- Technocrat E Sreedharan said Sunday that he would kickstart work on the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a high-speed railway line on Monday on the directions of the Union Railway Minister even though no Kerala-specific rail project has been announced in the budget.

Sreedharan, widely called 'Metroman' for his pioneering work on the Delhi Metro, had met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi on Jan 16 following which he had claimed that the ministry approved the preparatory works for a high-speed railway line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. The DPR was to be prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) under the leadership of Sreedharan.

At the same time, Kerala was...