Balaji Railway Division Sadhana Samithi convener Kuppala Giridhara Kumar addressing a meeting in Tirupati on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar
Speakers at a round table meeting organised by Balaji Railway Division Sadhana Samithi explained the need to carve out a separate railway division headquartered at Tirupati to exert sustained pressure in order to get pending projects in the region implemented on time.
Though the South Coast Railway (ScoR) zone at Visakhapatnam was mandated under the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, it is yet to become fully functional even after a decade. Similarly, a new division in Tirupati may remain a pipe dream until the zone achieves completes operational status, opined the speakers.
The meeting was chaired by the Samithi’s convener Kuppala Giridhara Kumar to throw light on the pending projects in the region and the need to expedite them through sustained focus.
He listed the 288 km-long Vijayawada-Gudur third line sanctioned in 2015-16 having completed just one third of the total work, the 309 km-long Nadikudi-Srikalahasti new line approved in 2011-12 having completed just 46 km, the 255 km-long Kadapa-Bengaluru new line sanctioned in 2008-09, where a 21 km-stretch had been commissioned so far. Similarly, they demanded better amenities at the Tirupati West and Tiruchanur railway stations, besides upgradation of the Carriage Repair Shop (CRS) at Renigunta in tune with the rising operational demand.
Centre for Rayalaseema Studies president Bhuman, veteran contractor M. Venugopal Reddy, senior journalist Palavali Ramachandra Reddy and former academic C. Swarajyalakshmi urged the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to send a proposal to this effect to the Railway Board and the Ministry of Railways to gain serious traction.
The speakers asserted that the Balaji division is a rightful and justified demand and expressed confidence that sustained public pressure and political follow-up through the MPs would deliver results.
Published – November 16, 2025 08:34 pm IST
