he South Central Railway (SCR) has been sanctioned Rs. 6,412 crore for the fiscal 2016-17, a sum that is 145 per cent more than the current year and includes budgetary grants for ongoing new lines and doubling projects.
SCR General Manager Ravinder Gupta told presspersons here on Thursday that the grant for ongoing projects the coming fiscal was up 102 per cent for new lines and a whopping 540 per cent for doubling works and termed it “a never-before initiative in history.” Giving an overview of what the Railway Budget tabled in Parliament by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu meant for SCR, he said the focus is more on expanding infrastructure and connectivity and improving train speeds.
On the passenger amenities front, there would be significant improvement at stations and on board trains for people, with intent to provide greater security for women. The year would also witness greater cooperation between Railways and Telangana Government and taking the public-private participation (PPP) route to achieve development, the General Manager said. He took the example of the Ghatkesar-Raigir (Yadadri) Multi-Modal Transit Services project to be taken up a cost of Rs. 330 crore. “Very soon, surveys will be taken up and estimates prepared, and once approvals come in, we will start work,” he said.
Referring to allocations for ongoing new lines - of Rs. 70 crore for the Peddapalli-Karimnagar-Nizamabad and Rs. 110 crore for Jaggayyapet-Mellacheruvu-Janpahad, Rs. 100 crore for Nandyal-Yerraguntla and Rs. 80 crore for Gulbarga-Bidar, Mr. Gupta said they would enable completion of the projects and allow train movements. “This will spawn development, the likes of which were never seen in the past few decades,” he pointed out.
Closer home, around the limits of Greater Hyderabad, significant points for SCR in the budget, he said were development of a satellite rail terminal at Cherlapalli at a cost of Rs. 80 crore and another similar terminal at Vattinagulapalli under the PPP mode. “This will serve to de-congest Secunderabad station,” he explained. Another highlight was the sanctions received for new surveys, the General Manager said. They include doubling of Mahabubnagar-Dhone (175 km) and Nallapadu-Bibinagar (243 km). The new line surveys include Bodhan-Biloli-Mudhkhed-Jalkot-Latur Road (130 km), Vijayawada-Guntur via Amaravati (67 km), Narasapur-Machilipatnam (85 km), Darsi-Narsaraopet (65 km), Cumbum-Ongole (115 km), Chittoor-Kuppam (118 km), Obulavaripalli-Vayalpadu (150 km) and Tuni-Kottavalasa (112 km).
On freight loading, Mr. Gupta said cement, coal and iron ore movement was lesser than the last year. This was due to a slowdown in the construction industry impacting cement movement, while for coal and iron ore it was due to reduced imports, he explained.
For the Ghatkesar-Raigir (Yadadri) Multi-Modal Transit Services project, surveys will be taken up and estimates prepared, and once approvals come in, we will start work
Ravinder Gupta,
SCR General Manager.
Published - February 26, 2016 12:00 am IST
