A long pending demand of passengers from Guntur and Tenali was finally met with the South Central Railway deciding to commence the doubling of Guntur-Tenali railway line.
The doubling works connecting the two major commercial towns in the district has been awarded to an agency and would cost Rs.147 crore, Divisional Railway Manager, Guntur, N.K Prasad told media persons here on Friday. The firm would also take up electrification works simultaneously.
The doubling of 24.38 k.m track would be completed in about a year, paving the way for running of circular trains between Guntur and Tenali.
With business and industrial activity set to pick up in the future and the proximity to capital region, the move is set to trigger a passenger rush. The SCR railways has also taken up doubling of Guntur-Nandyal stretch, the DRM said adding that Guntur-Pagidipalli (Secunderabad) stretch would also need to be doubled.
Guntur Railway Division has also started a new commercial initiative called platform branding.
Mr. Prasad said that the contract, a first-of-its-kind, was given to firms to air advertisements before the railway announcements. Each advertisement would be for 20 seconds duration. The railway collects Rs.1 lakh a year from firms.
Mr. Prasad launched the facility on platform 1, 2-3 and 4-5 on Friday.
