Dharmavaram–Pakala railway line electrification completed

Tirupati: With the completion of the entire stretch of Dharmavaram–Pakala section electrification, all the Guntakal Division of South Central Railway (SCR) now stands electrified. The electrification of the final stretch between Tummanamgutta–Kalikiri for 50 km is now completed, marking a milestone for the division in the path of electrification of railway lines across its network.

This has led to major infrastructure enhancement particularly in the Rayalaseema region in the state. It facilitates the introduction of electric traction in the interior sections of the Anantapur, Kurnool and Chittoor districts of Rayalaseema region. The trains can now be operated with electric traction on end to end basis destined to Tirupati, Katpadi, Chennai and beyond via Dharmavaram, Kadiri, Pakala.

Chief PRO of SCR Ch Rakesh said that Dharmavaram–Pakala electrification project was sanctioned in 2017-18 for a distance of 228 km at an estimated cost of Rs 253 crore. The section between Dharmavaram-Kadiri for a distance of 68 route km was completed in March 2021 and the sections between Kadiri-Tummanamgutta for 54 km and Pakala-Kalikiri for 56 Km have been electrified in March 2022.

The last stretch in the section between Tummanamgutta-Kalikiri for 50 km has now been completed marking the completion of the entire project as well as the electrification of the entire Guntakal Division.

Rakesh said that the electrification of railway lines has short term as well as long term benefits which include providing seamless movement of trains by avoiding change in traction power and reduced en route detention of both the coaching and freight trains. Also, it improves the average speed of the trains by reducing detention and provides an environment-friendly means of powering the trains, while saving fuel costs at the same time. It may be recalled that this line was built as a meter gauge line during the British rule and opened for traffic in 1891 which was later converted into broad gauge line in 2011. This line passes through several western mandals of erstwhile Chittoor district and is one of the major rail routes under the Guntakal Railway Division.

Various trains, including Secunderabad-Tirupati SF express, Amravati-Tirupati SFE, Seven Hills, Guntakal-Tirupati, Mumbai CSMT-Nagercoil express, Kacheguda-Madurai weekly, Dharmavaram-Narasapur express, Kadirideverapalli-Tirupati trains are operated on the route.

Meanwhile, in-charge general manager of SCR Arun Kumar Jain complimented the railway officials of Guntakal division and electric wing at both the zonal and divisional levels for their efforts in completing the project at a fast pace.