Passengers going to Visakhapatam Railway Station from various colonies located on either side of the National Highway (NH-16) will soon have a direct bus to reach the station. Route No. 38 Y/R is being introduced in a couple of days in this regard, says Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (Urban) of APSRTC A. Veeraiah Choudhury.
It has been a long-pending demand of the people of residential colonies abutting the highway for a direct bus service to the railway station. RTC Regional Manager Y. Jagadeesh Babu directed the officials to make arrangements in this regard.
The 38 Y/R will operate from Duvvada Railway Station on the 38 Y route and take a detour at Thatichetlapalem junction on the National Highway to reach the Visakhapatnam Railway Station and proceed to Dwaraka Bus Station (RTC Complex) via the Old Jail Road. A new service 14 R was introduced recently connecting Venkojipalem to Visakhapatnam Railway Station.
The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has resulted in an increase in the demand for more trains to Tirupati, Kurnool and Vijayawada in Seemandhra as also to Chennai and Bangalore. On the contrary, the demand for trains to Hyderabad is on the decline with more and more people from Vizag, Vijayawada and other places either relocating to their native places or planning to do so, says a retired professor of Andhra University. “Shanghai and Beijing have proved that road and rail transport are the means to improve the economy of a place. We should have trains that reach Vijayawada by 6 a.m. and good overnight trains to Tirupati and Rayalaseema.” The East Coast Railway has announced summer specials from Bhubaneswar to Yesvantpur (Bangalore).
These trains reach Visakhapatnam in the evenings. Though the timings are convenient, being a passing train, the quota of berths from Visakhapatnam could be less. The ECoR authorities needs to introduce summer specials from the city to Tirupati, Chennai and Bangalore in view of the huge waiting lists from the city.
