HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway has received a staggering budgetary allocation of Rs6,846 crore for the year of 2020-21. This is a 30 per cent increase from last year’s budgetary allocation.
The allocation includes Rs 2,856 crore for new lines, Rs3,836 for doubling, third line and bypass line works, and Rs154 crore for traffic facilities, the South Central Railway said in a press release on Wednesday. Additionally, Rs900 crore has been allocated for track renewals.
Additionally, a major thrust has been given to passenger amenity work. In accordance with this priority, a substantial amount of budgetary grant of Rs 672 crore has been allotted for improvement in passenger amenities including facilities and infrastructure for differently-abled people.
Under Mission Electrification, in the current financial year 178 km of electrification in the division has been completed and allocations in the current budget are also satisfactory, it said.
In order to further strengthen safety and ensure smooth flow of vehicular traffic, the South Central Railway has started elimination of manned level crossings, and in the current financial year, 104 manned level crossings have been eliminated by January, 2020. The budgetary grant for these road safety works is around Rs 542 crore.
The provision of Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which was long-due in the South Central Railway has been allocated Rs100 crore. The TCAS will be applied on the routes on Manmad-Nanded-Secunderabad, Dhone-Guntakal and Bidar-Parli-Parbhani sections.
Rs 30 cr for midlife coach factory at Kurnool
The Railway Ministry has allocated Rs30 crore for midlife rehabilitation coach factory at Kurnool in AP. Tirupati Railway Station, which is being remodelled under the PPP structure, was allotted Rs6 crore for development of a second entrance and Rs11 crore for development of Tiruchanur railway station. Besides, a sum of Rs1,198 crore has been allocated for Nadikudi-Srikalahasti project, Rs294 crore for Guntur-Guntakal doubling project, Rs1,158 crore for Vijayawada - Gudivada, Machilipatnam-Bhimavaram, Narsapur-Nidadavolu route doubling and electrification.The doubling project was sanctioned in 2011-12 for a distance of 221 km with an estimated cost of Rs1,429 crore. The section between Moturu -Bhimavaram for a distance of 56 km has been completed and commissioned. The Railway Ministry has allotted Rs551 crore for Kotipalli-Narsapur project.
