Anantapur: Minister of state railways, Rajen Gohain stated that Andhra Pradesh has been receiving consistent support from the railway ministry under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and railway minister Puyush Goyal in the development of rail infrastructure and enhan-ced passenger facilities.
“During the year 2018-19, the budget allocation for rail developmental activities in AP has been Rs 3,670 crore as compared to the allocation of Rs 1,105 crore during 2014-15, Rayalaseema region plays an important role for rail operations connecting southern India to northern, western and eastern parts of the country”, Mr Gohain briefed.
At a function held at Guntakal railway station in the district on Thursday the minister of state dedicated the rail infrastructure development projects and passenger facilities including the electrification of Guntakal-Nallapadu section, to the nation.
Addressing the gathering, the minister said that Indian railways is making all round efforts to improve train connectivity from different parts of Rayalasee-ma to capital city region of AP.
Introduction of Tri-weekly Express from Dharmava-ram to Vijayawada, extension of Machilipatnam to Tirupati Express up to Dharmavaram and running of special trains from Kurnool and Raichur to Kakinada via Guntur and Vijayawada are some of the initiatives taken in this dir-ection, Mr Gohain added.
Elaborating on the importance being accorded to Rayalaseema by the railway ministry, he stressed that special interest has been taken in the development of region in terms of railway infrastructure whi-ch will help socio-economic growth of the area.
“Due to the consistent efforts of this government, 145 kms of new railway lines, 23 kms of doubling and 653 kms of electrification have been completed with a combined cost of more than '1,900 crore in the Rayalaseema region of the state”, he observed and added the projects commissioned during the last 4 years in Rayalaseema region include 123 kms of Nandyal-Yerraguntla new railway line, 22 kms of new railway line between Kadapa-Pendlimarri of Kadapa-Bengaluru, a new railway line project and 90 kms of electrification between Gooty-Dharmavaram and another 93 kms of electrification between Guntakal - Mantralayam.
The minister further said several infrastructural projects falling in Rayalaseema region costing around Rs 6,300 crore are in fast progression, the most prominent being the new railway line project between Kadapa-Bengaluru, doubling between Guntakal- Guntur, Gooty-Dharmavaram and electrification between Guntakal-Bellary, he added.
