Railway Minister Piyush Goyal laid the foundation stone for the Cherlapally satellite terminal, yesterday (Tuesday, 18th February 2020). The Central government has allocated Rs 221 crore for the construction of the satellite terminal which is expected to ease the traffic.
SCR has plans to develop the Cherlapally railway station into a mega terminal as the Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Hyderabad railway station has reached optimum capacity.
Speaking on the occasionUnion Railway Minister requested the State government to release its share of Rs 450 crore for expediting works related to Phase II of the Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS) project.
The Ministry of Railways has spent Rs 500 crore for Phase-I of the MMTS, which is a joint venture project between the Central and State governments, he said while addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone to the Cherlapalli satellite station and dedicating a host of infrastructure and passenger facilities.
“We are yet to receive the share of Rs 450 crore from the State government. If we get the amount, we will be able to expedite the work. The track laying works are already on,” he said, requesting Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who was also present at the event, to use his good offices in releasing the State government’s share.
“As the important section between Moulali and Sanathnagar was stopped, we request you (Srinivas Yadav) to release the State’s share to start the works,” Goyal said. Referring to remarks made by Srinivas Yadav that the Ministry of Railways only gives priority to North compared to South India in the budget, Goyal denied it saying that it happened during the UPA government but not when the NDA government was in power.
“As every State has to be developed, we do not allow any politics into railways. The Central government’s main aim is to ensure the development of everyone,” he said. The Indian railways is for the entire country even though there are zones for taking up operations.
For the year 2020-21, the Ministry has approved projects worth over Rs 2,602 crore in Telangana. Two new double lines from Bibinagar to Guntur were sanctioned in this budget while in the last five years, 12 new projects were sanctioned with an investment of Rs.10,000 crore including half a dozen electrification projects apart from doubling of lines. From 2014-19, the Ministry has completed 158 km of new lines apart from doubling and third line works.
Electrification of 303 km was also completed and 22 new trains were started in Telangana and 42 train services were extended. The important Peddapalli-Karimnagar-Nizamabad line was conceived in 93-94. “We have completed 95 km of the 178 km line,” he said.
WiFi Services Launched for SCR Railway Stations
Free high speed WiFi services at 427 railway stations were also launched by the Railway Mniter at the function. The South Central Railway (SCR) had launched WiFi services at the Secunderabad railway station in December 2016. The facility commissioned across the SCR is being used extensively by all sections of passengers including rural rail users, receiving appreciation from different corners.
On an average, 19.15 lakh users were logged every month at the stations over SCR for using the facility. In fact, Secunderabad station stands in fourth position across Indian railways in usage of internet data by rail users.
The Minister also laid the foundation stone for the electrification of Yerraguntla-Nandyal section and launched a double line with electrification of Guntakal-Kalluru section through remote video link.
Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy, MPs Dharmapuri Arvind, Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Soyam Bapu Rao along with dignitaries were present.
You must be logged in to post a comment.