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The South Central Railway, encompassing Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, has got a fair share of new trains and projects in the Railway Budget.
In a significant gain for Hyderabad, now the common capital for the two States, two of the nine identified routes for high-speed trains with enhanced speeds of 160-200 kmph are in this zone — Hyderabad to Chennai and Secunderabad to Nagpur.
The Budget also gives both the States 29 railway projects estimated to cost a total of ₹20,680 crore. “Railway officials will hold a coordinating meeting with representatives of the two States to consider their requirements and how these can be accommodated in the new projects,” General Manager of South Central Railways, PK Srivastava, said.
Express trains The zone also got a significant slice of the new express trains announced in the Budget. Out of the 43 new express trains announced, 11 either originate or pass through the zone.
Taking into account the allotment of 15 such trains in the interim Rail Budget presented in February, SC Railway has got a total of 26 new express trains for the current fiscal, as against 21 express trains announced in the last Budget.
The originating express trains include Secunderabad-Nizamuddin Premium AC Express, Vijayawada-New Delhi AP Express, Kazipet-Mumbai weekly Express and Bidar-Mumbai weekly Express.
Potential projects As a special measure, Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda is considering the railway project requirements of the two States with a joint committee of Railways and State government officials to examine potential projects. In all, the zone was allotted a net Plan outlay of ₹1,898 crore, including ₹416 crore for new lines, ₹83 crore for doubling, ₹92 crore for passenger amenities and ₹381 crore for track renewals.
Srivastava said the zone will receive about ₹60 crore for the MMTS Phase-II project.
“We are examining a proposal to connect the MMTS local service to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Issues such as land acquisition and alignment are being studied,” he said.
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