Ministry sources had recently told The Indian Express that the committee had permitted Railways “to start work at some locations” and that the Railways had “started conducting the technical tests, as indicated by the committee, at some of these locations”.

“Amberg was asked to optimise the existing alignment. A technical examination of each kilometre is on and the expert committee has accepted a host of options leaving the final decision to the ministry. Safety of the line will be our paramount concern. The ministry may not agree with what Amberg has suggested,” a top ministry official told The Indian Express on Friday.

Works on this section were suspended on July 14, 2008 following an order by former Member Engineering of the Railway Board, SK Vij. Following abysmal progress of the construction over several years, Vij had called for a review of the alignment.