The construction of the third line between Visakhapatnam Junction and Gopalapatnam, the survey for which was completed long ago, is likely to commence soon, with the Railway Board giving its nod for the project.
The project, which involves construction of the 8-km railway line, would be taken up at an estimated cost of ₹106 crore. This information was obtained by K. Eswar, Secretary, Duvvada Railway Users’ Association, from the Railway Board under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
‘Yet to receive official communication’
“We are yet to get an official communication in this regard,” Divisional Railway Manager Anil Satpathy told The Hindu , when contacted on Tuesday evening.
The third line will help in quick turnaround of trains at the Visakhapatnam Junction and minimise the detention of trains at the outer signal near Kancharapalem, Gopalapatnam, Duvvada and Anakapalle during the peak hours due to non-availability of platforms in the Visakahaptnam Railway station.
In February, 2020, N. Gajapathi Rao, who was then a Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) member, had written to the then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for allocation of funds for construction of the third line to prevent important long distance trains bypassing the Visakhapatnam Junction due to traffic bottlenecks due to criss-crossing of incoming and outgoing trains.
