The South Central Railway has achieved another milestone with the commissioning of electrical traction on Guntakal-Raichur-Wadi section and Nallapadu-Cumbum section of Guntur-Nandyal rail route.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has issued authorisation for introduction of electrical traction on the two routes with a length of 301 route kilometres and 517 track kilometres in one go.
The SCR claimed that the development marked a new record in its history wherein the CRS had issued authorisation for 517 km of electrical traction in one go.
The Guntakal-Wadi electrification project was sanctioned in 2009-10 with 228 route km and 547 track km. The Guntakal-Chiksugur section comprising 136 route km length received authorisation from the Commissioner Railway Safety for introduction of electrical traction recently.
Major route
The project, involving ₹ 207.7 crore, was taken up in two phases — Wadi-Raichur section with length of 107 route km and 260 track km and Guntakal-Raichur section with length of 121 route km and 287 track km. The section had a total of 26 stations en route and 49 manned and 17 unmanned level crossings.
Completion of electrification would enable the SCR to run trains with electrical engines between Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. The electrification of Nallapadu-Cumbum-Diguvametta-Dhone-Guntakal, spanning 426 route km, was sanctioned at an estimated cost of ₹ 363.32 crore in 2012-13 and the SCR had so far incurred ₹261.46 crore expenditure for Nallapadu-Diguvametta section.
Work on the Nallapadu-Cumbum section, comprising 165 route km and 200 track km, has been completed on Guntur-Nandyal-Guntakal route.
Passenger services
The CRS conducted statutory inspection and authorised the SCR to introduce passenger services on electric traction.
The SCR said, in a press release, that passenger trains between Tenali and Markapur could be converted from diesel loco hauling to electric loco saving diesel cost and avoiding pollution besides increasing sectional speed for optimal utilisation of resources.
