Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jayasuryaprakash Reddy here on Tuesday flagged off an all air-conditioned Secunderabad-Shalimar (Kolkata) weekly superfast train and a weekly Kacheguda-Madurai Express.
After he waved the Shalimar superfast train at the Secunderabad Railway Station in the presence of MP M. Anjan Kumar Yadav and General Manager, South Central Railway (SCR) D.P. Pande, with the click of a mouse, he also gave the go-ahead for Bharatiya Janata Party MLA (Amberpet) G. Kishan Reddy to wave a flag to send the weekly express to Madurai on its way from Kacheguda.
Both the trains, the Union Minister said, were in fulfilment of the promises made in the Railway Budget 2012. The Kacheguda-Madurai Express train marks the second direct train connecting Secunderabad and Madurai, while the State capitals of A.P. and West Bengal are thus far, connected by two daily and two non-daily express trains, he said.
The focus of the Indian Railways, Mr. Suryaprakash Reddy said, was fulfilling aspirations of people by providing better connectivity and passenger amenities with no compromise on safety and security.
Modernisation of train services and of stations was a priority area too, he said, recalling that Rs. 65 crore was sanctioned for developing the Tirupati station.
Mr. Anjan Kumar Yadav said the Zone was consistently getting sanctions for new trains from the Railway Board and recalled that in the 2013 railway budget, 23 trains were announced.
Stating that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Mr. Suryaprakash Reddy were leaving no stone unturned to get the best for A.P., he wanted railway officials to take up works and make Secunderabad and Tirupati world-class stations.
Earlier, Mr. Pande welcomed the gathering at the Secunderabad station and said that over 400 specials were pressed into service this summer to clear the rush of passengers on all sectors.
