People looked forward to a special railway zone and new trains, but Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s budget had no mention of them. Vijayawada Tax Payers’ Association president V. Sambi Reddy said the BJP had promised to create a separate railway zone after coming to power. “There is no mention of the special zone and new trains for the State. This is quite unsatisfactory,” he said.
“In the last budget, the Railway Ministry had announced A.P. Express, but nothing concrete was done on that front. The proposed third line between Kazipet and Vijayawada will not be of much benefit for people. The elected public representatives should exert pressure on the Centre to announce more projects for the State,” he added. Meanwhile, the Vijayawada Chamber of Commerce said there was nothing new for the business community to cheer about in the budget. “It is pathetic to note that there is no announcement on the status of as many as 29 pending projects,” said chamber president V. Bhaskara Rao in a statement.
The Andhra Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation described the budget as disappointing, as there was no mention of a separate railway zone and new trains connecting various cities with Vijayawada.
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There is no clarity on allocations to pending projects in the State. However, the federation welcomed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s announcement on laying a third line between Kazipet and Vijayawada.
In a statement here, federation president-elect M. Muralikrishna said Mr. Prabhu had laid emphasis on transparency, passengers’ safety and amenities, besides freight.
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The decision to take up railway projects under the public-private-partnership mode, implementation of ‘Swacch Rail’ along with other policies would go a long way in the development of railways on all fronts, he added.