Railway Minister urged to start long distance trains from Vijayawada

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) in a letter to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw suggested for rapid development of railways in Andhra Pradesh, according to AP Chambers president Potluri Bhaskar Rao.

He said in a statement here on Monday that the AP Chambers requested the Union government to introduce long distance trains originating from Vijayawada as its strategic location makes it a crucial link in the railway network, connecting major cities and regions across the country. The Chambers also requested the Union government to allocate at least two Vande Bharat Sleeper trains to Vijayawada division that originate from Vijayawada connecting important destinations like New Delhi and Mumbai. AP Chambers stated that the development of the new South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone has not yet materialised in spite of being sanctioned many years ago. The Chambers opined that the new Zone is crucial for the development of rail network and improvement of train connectivity in Andhra Pradesh and requested the Ministry of Railways to expedite the process of setting up the headquarters of the Zone in Visakhapatnam and commission the ScoR Zone as early as possible.

The Chambers further requested the Union government to introduce a Vande Bharat train between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam that starts from Vijayawada in the morning and returns by late evening. The Chambers suggested to the Ministry of Railways to introduce W a Vande Bharat train between Vijayawada and Bangalore connecting Tirupati as there are a lot of people from the State who work in Bangalore.

AP Chambers requested the Union government to complete the East Coast Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) at the earliest and to commence the North-South DFC (NSDFC) from Itarsi-Nagpur-Vijayawada as it will help the economic development of the State and will also bring down the cost of the logistics to the industry. The Chambers suggested that the DFCs should be connected with the ports in the State so that the cargo can be handled in a pollution-free and cost-effective manner. The Chambers suggested to the Ministry of Railways to develop Gunadala and Rayanapadu stations as satellite stations to ease the congestion at the Vijayawada station.