Vijayawada: The decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to approve seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways, at Rs 32,500 crore, will benefit the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with key railway lines in the states set to be strengthened.
As per the announcement by Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, track doubling works for 417.88 kilometres between Mudkhed and Dhone will be done, to facilitate easy travel and transportation.
The Central government said that the proposed projects will help increase the existing line capacity, smoothen train operations, reduce congestion and facilitate ease of travelling and transportation.
Overall, the projects cover 35 districts in nine states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The works will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 2,339 kilometres.
In the Telugu states, the proposed project will increase the existing line capacity, facilitating smoother train operations by improving timekeeping, as well as wagon turnaround time.
The line covers Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Medak, Medchal Malkajgiri, Mahbubnagar, Wanaparthy and Jogulamba Gadwal districts of Telangana, paving the way for the introduction of new trains in the section. The project will also boost the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’ by upskilling people.
With the strengthening of the Mudkhed-Dhone railway section, congestion on the Balharshah-Kazipet-Secunderabad ad Kazipet-Vijawayada will be eased as goods trains bound to the north-south can be routed via the new double-line section.
It will provide an alternative coal and steel route for Balharshah-Ramagundam-Secunderabad-Wadi-Guntakal and will ease the congestion in the existing busy route and enhance the traffic between southern regions and northern regions of India.
The main industrial clusters or corridors that are served by this section include foodgrains in Mudkhed, Bodhan, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Jadcherla, Mahbubnagar and Kurnool town. Industrial clusters in Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Nanded, Medak, Kurnool, Gadwal, Itikiyala, Gundlapochampally and Bahadurpally will be served, besides warehouses and cold storages in Nizamabad, Bodhan, Sarangapur, Bandamallaram, Mahbubnagar and Gadwal.
As per the approval, the Guntur-Bibinagar doubling works across 239 kilometres will increase the existing line capacity of the section, smoothening train operations.
The South Central Railway estimated the cost at Rs 2,853.23 crore, the construction of which will generate direct employment for about 75 lakh.
M. Ramakrishna, the divisional railway manager for the Guntur division said that the Guntur-Bibinagar section connects southern and eastern parts of India (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha) to central and western parts of India (Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra).
“It is the shortest route from Secunderabad to Guntur/Vijayawada and doubling of the section improves the mobility between Secunderabad and Guntur/Vijayawada. Guntur-Bibinagar is an alternate route between Secunderabad and Vijayawada, avoiding highly congested and stressed routes via Kazipet, Warangal and Khammam,” he said.
Ramakrishna said that the major industrial clusters or corridors served by the line are iron and steel at Chityal Narketpally, cement plants at Vishnupuram, Nadikudi, Tummalacheruvu, Janpahad, Mellacheruvu, Mattampally, Jaggayyapeta and Ramapuram, thermal power plant at 4000 MW thermal plant near Vishnupuram (upcoming), foodgrains of FCI siding at Nagireddipalli, Nalgonda and Miryalaguda, besides industrial clusters of Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur, Vishnupuram and Narketpally, and warehouses and cold storages, of over 100 warehouses around Hyderabad over 50 cold storages around Guntur.
The official stated that the proposed doubling work will facilitate faster transportation of agricultural products, cement, coal and other local products, and seamless movement of people within Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and to other parts of the country. It will also reduce the journey time of the various trains running between Secunderabad and Guntur/Vijayawada stations.
