CM okays land for railway coaching terminals at Amaravati, Gannavaram

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu approved the allotment of land for the construction of new railway coaching terminals at Amaravati and Gannavaram and speed up the expansion of the coaching terminals at Vijayawada and Guntur. 

He directed the officials to ensure superior railway connectivity to the seaports under construction in order to improve logistics in the State, and suggested that a plan be worked out to set up an Integrated Logistics Park in collaboration with the Central government. 

Addressing a review meeting on railway projects in the State on Monday, Mr. Naidu called for steps to expedite the construction of Nadikudi-Srikalahasti, Guntur-Guntakal, Gunadala-Mustabad bypass and Renigunta-Rayadurg-Tumkur railway lines.

Taking stock of railway projects worth ₹33,630 crore that are in progress, the Chief Minister said proposals to have high-speed elevated railway corridors on routes like Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Chennai via Amaravati should be discussed and necessary action initiated. 

Mr. Naidu suggested that the proposed bullet train project should be connected to the international airport at Amaravati, and emphasised that the Chennai-Bengaluru high-speed elevated corridor should include Tirupati as a stop.

He enquired about the dedicated freight corridor from Kharagpur to Chennai, and said the State government planned to transform Andhra Pradesh into a multi-modal logistics hub. 

Further, noting that while work was under way to improve north-south connectivity, projects connecting the eastern and western States should be pursued with top priority.

The Chief Minister ordered the immediate release of ₹27 crore for the next phase of work on the new Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line.

He also told the officials to start train services on the Kakinada-Kotipalli-Amalapuram line which was a part of the Kotipalli-Narsapur route.

Steps should be taken to expedite the Guntur-Guntakal railway line doubling works and the construction of the third line between Kazipet and Vijayawada.

Iconic stations

Mr. Naidu directed officials to develop Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Tirupati as iconic railway stations and to build the Amaravati railway station with innovative designs.

He sought quick re-development of the Vijayawada railway station, and suggested setting up of a skywalk at Tirupati station for passenger convenience. 

Railway officials told the Chief Minister that Nellore and Rajahmundry stations were being upgraded, and 73 stations in the State were in the process of modernisation under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

The establishment of the South Coastal Railway Zone headquarters in Visakhapatnam should be completed at the earliest, Mr. Naidu added.

Minister for Transport, Roads and Buildings and Infrastructure and Investments B.C. Janardhan Reddy, Special Chief Secretaries M.T. Krishna Babu and G. Sai Prasad, South Central Railway General Manager Sanjay Srivastava and other railway officials took part.