Passengers proceeding to Tirupati can now do so in the comfort of a double-decker what with the interim Railway Budget 2014-15 providing for a bi-weekly express service from Kacheguda. Also, another bi-weekly double-decker express was announced between Guntur and Kacheguda, apart from a daily Hyderabad-Gulbarga Intercity Express.
In all 15 of the 55 new Express trains announced in the Railway Budget pertain to South Central Railway (SCR), constituting 28 per cent. Of the 15 trains, eight either originate or pass through the twin cities. Interestingly, while it is for the first time double-decker express service was announced for SCR, both of those announced in the Budget were allocated to SCR.
The Budget had announced frequency increase for three express trains and all three belong to SCR. They are Vijayawada-Hubli, Bidar-Yeshwanthpur and Secunderabad-Hubli, with all of them that have been made daily services from thrice a week. In addition, surveys for doubling of two single line sections - Latur Road to Kurdwadi and Parbahni to Parli, on SCR jurisdiction, were also included in the Budget.
The four other new express trains originating/terminating on SCR, all weekly services, are Aurangabad-Renigunta, Nanded-Aurangabad (via Purna, Parbhani), Kacheguda-Nagercoil (via Karur, Namakkal, Salem) and Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam (via Kazipet, Vijayawada). Four express trains that will pass through SCR are Howrah-Yeshwantpur weekly (via Bhubaneswar, Gudur, Katpadi), Varanasi-Mysoore bi-weekly (via Wadi, Daund), Mumbai-Chennai weekly (via Pune, Gulbarga, Wadi).
The four premium weekly trains that will pass through SCR are Patna-Bangalore (via Mughalsarai, Chheoki, Manikpur, Nagpur), Yeshwantpur-Katra (via Gulbarga, Kacheguda, Nagpur, New Delhi), Yeshwantpur-Jaipur AC (via Gulbarga, Pune, Vasai Road) and Kamkhya-Chennai AC (via Walda, Howrah).
