Kazipet railway coach factory pending for 4 decades

Warangal: The demand for Railway coach factory in Kazipet - perhaps the only issue that has been alive and kicking since early 1980s but without any headway.

Over the years, the demand has been a bone of contention between the Opposition and treasury benches in the Parliament but never taken to logical end.

It's to be noted here that the proposal to establish a coach factory in Kazipet dates to 1982. However, due to political reasons, it was later given to Kapurtala in Punjab when the son of the soil PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister.

Hopes revived again when the then Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee sanctioned a wagon factory on a public-private partnership (PPP) besides allocating Rs 15 crore in the Railway Budget of 2010-11. Though the State government allotted had 64 acres, the South Central Railway didn't take possession of it on the pretext of legal disputes and encroachments.

Later, the Railways had sanctioned a periodic overhauling (POH) unit in Kazipet in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 480 crore. Until recently, it got stuck in the land acquisition row, giving a scope for BJP and Congress to attack the ruling TRS.

Of late, the State claims that Railways is refusing to take possession of the land acquired for the POH. On the other hand, the Railways had reportedly asked the State to handover the land only after making its records available on Dharani, an Integrated Land Records Management System Government of Telangana.

The other major demand is upgrading Kazipet as Railway Division. Demand for 2 and 3 platforms at the Kazipet Town Railway Station. As of now, only Singareni Express is halting at this station.

"If two more platforms come up at the Town Station, it could ease the traffic at Kazipet main railway station. It could also necessitate water filling to long-running trains," Devulapally Raghavender, a Railway employee and convener of the Telangana Railway JAC told The Hans India.

Referring to the Centre's unwillingness to establish a coach factory in Kazipet, he sought the authorities to set up at least Vande Bharat model train coach unit.

The Railway JAC which wants the people's representatives to exert pressure on the Centre in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament met the Rajya Sabha member Banda Prakash on Sunday and submitted a memorandum to him.