The Railway budget presented by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday came as a disappointment to the State as there was no mention of the long pending demands.
Except for an announcement on launch of works on third line between Kazipet and Vijayawada and some other projects, the Union Minister’s speech was devoid of any concrete proposals relating to the State including the much-awaited announcement on separate zone and clubbing of Waltair division into the South Central Railway.
There was also no mention about the coaching terminal sought by the government near Vijayawada, a project that assumed significance following the decision to locate the new capital in the vicinity.
The State had also been pitching for dedicated train to New Delhi, post-bifurcation.
The Minister, however, made allocation of Rs. 100 crore for Mellacheruvu-Vishnupuram and Rs. 130 crore for Nandyal-Yerraguntla lines which were on completion mode.
The Nadikudi-Srikalahasti line, spanning 308 km involving an estimated Rs. 2,452 crore was sanctioned Rs. 110 crore and doubling & electrification of the Vijayawada-Bhimavaram-Nidadavole line received an allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
Issues relating to works on several lines like Obulavaripalle-Krishnapatnam did not find mention in spite of the State government agreeing to bear 50 per cent cost on development of the line as also doubling works on Guntur-Tenali route.
The Minister had announced that four new dedicated freight corridors would be developed in the coming years, but did not specify the routes on which these corridors would be set. There was also no mention about the allocation to Kadapa-Bangalore new railway line works which were progressing at a snail’s pace.
The State had made several representations related to new trains like Tirupati-Guwahati via Visakhapatnam, Tirupati-Varanasi via Vizag and Tirupati-Katra/Jammu via Nagpur besides a double-decker train between Visakhapatnam and Chennai. But there was no mention of new trains at all.
There was no concrete proposals relating to the State
