: The South Central Railway’s (SCR) efforts to decongest the ever-bustling Tirupati railway station have resulted in the formation of a ‘new crossing station’ at Tiruchanur. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday, laid the foundation stone for the facility, which will not only ease train traffic but also strengthen the infrastructure in the Tirupati area. For several years, maintaining punctuality of the services had been a challenging task for railway officials.
“The present pattern of rail services and limitations linked to the number of platforms (at the stations) has made it difficult to maintain train schedules, particularly during peak times resulting in heavy saturation,” said Mr. Prabhu, while addressing the gathering at the precincts of Tirupati railway station. “Developing Tiruchanur railway station, between Renigunta and Tirupati, as a ‘crossing station’ would certainly ease the congestion.”
Mr. Prabhu said the station would be upgraded from its present classification – ‘C’ — without a loop line, to ‘B’ with loop lines on the up and down side. He promised to consider the request of naming the upcoming station after Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru.
“A.P. needs a
helping hand”
On plans to develop the railway infrastructure in and around the temple city, Mr. Prabhu said officials would formulate a concrete plan, in the next one month, and work towards its implementation. “Our priority is to develop the railway infrastructure across the country as well as focus on the individual requirements of the States. Andhra Pradesh needs support after the State bifurcation and has been a long-neglected region.
“Hence, we will come up with a concrete action plan after a meeting with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and officials from the Railway Board in Vijayawada,” he added.
MPs N. Sivaprasad (Chittoor), M. Muralimohan (Rajamahendravaram), Gokaraju Rangaraju (Narasapur), V.Varaprasad (Tirupati), State Ministers Kamineni Srinivas (Health), Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy (Environment and Forests), TTD Trust Board Chairman Ch. Krishnamurthy and Board Member G Bhanuprakash Reddy, MLCs Y. Srinivasulu Reddy, G. Srinivasulu, Zilla Parishad Chairman Geeravani Chandraprakash, SCR General Manager Ravindra Gupta were among those present. They expressed happiness over Mr. Prabhu being elected as Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Krishnamurthy, on behalf of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, promised all help to the Railways.
Offers prayers at Tirumala
Tirumala Special Correspondent writes: Mr. Suresh Prabhu offered prayers at the temple of Lord Venkateswara. MPs Murali Mohan (Rajamahendravaram), G. Nagesh (Adilabad), and BJP state official spokesperson and TTD member trustee G. Bhanuprakash Reddy were among those who accompanied him.
Amongst the major coaching terminals on SCR, Tirupati railway station has the unique distinction of being one of the most busiest one on the network.
