VIJAYAWADA: By remotely laying the foundation for the Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line from New Delhi on Friday, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu set the stage for what K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, who headed the Expert Committee on Andhra Pradesh Capital, had described in his report as the “Kalahasti spine” that would “emerge as an important zone of development.”
The 309-km-long line was in fact sanctioned in 2011-12, but figured in the Railway Budget of 2014-15. It was estimated to cost approximately Rs.2,300 crore.
Mr. Sivaramakrishnan, whose mandate was to “study alternatives for the new capital of A.P,” identified ‘Nadikudi-Kalahasti spine’ (land situated along the proposed Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line) as one of the three sub-regions that are crucial for “distributed development” of A.P.
He had, in one of his articles published in The Hindu , observed that: “AP will become a better-knit geographic and economic entity if the Chief Minister concentrates on some of the very important projects, including those in which the Central Government’s support has been assured, such as the coastal corridor, a gas pipeline and its transmission to Rayalaseema, the Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line, and development of some of the railway lines east to west.”
Coming to the present, the Railways allocated Rs.110 crore for the project in 2015-16 and Rs.180 crore in 2016-17.
The new line takes off at Piduguralla station on the existing Secunderabad-Guntur rail route and connects to Venkatagiri station in Gudur-Srikalahasti section. It is recognised as a viable alternative to Kazipet-Vijayawada and Vijayawada-Gudur-Tirupati/Chennai grand trunk rail route.
These routes will be de-congested upon completion of the new line, which will also serve as the shortest route between Guntur and Tirupati, besides improving connectivity from the remote areas of Guntur, Prakasam, and Nellore districts to the capital city, Amaravati.
