MPs demand separate railway zone for AP

Vijayawada: MPs from Andhra Pradesh, cutting across party lines, on Tuesday demanded creation of a separate railway zone with Vizag as its headquarters as per the assurances given by the Union Government in the AP Re-organisation Act.

Lok Sabha members from Coastal districts and Rayalaseema region met the SCR General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav,   Vijayawada DRM Ashok Kumar and otherofficials in Vijayawada and discussed with them the pending railway in the state.  The General Manager  said that he would convey the meeting details to the Railway Board and Railway minister.  

The SCR, as part of its annual meeting before budget session, arranged the meeting with the MPs and the latter have submitted representations seeking basic amenities, creation of railway zone, introduction of new trains and to increase rail connectivity between Amaravati to backward Rayalaseema region.

MPs Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Narasaraopet), MekapatiRajamohan Reddy (Nellore), Thota Narasimham (Kakinada), MagantiBabu (Eluru), P Ravindra (Amalapuram), M Srinivasa Rao (Anakapalli), Y V Subbareddy (Ongole), V Varaprasada Rao (Tirupati), Kesineni Srinivas (Vijayawada), Konakalla Narayana (Machilipatnam), J C Diwakar Reddy (Anantapur) and others attended the meeting. After meeting with the Railway officials. the MPs addressed media conference.

Rayalaseema MPs Diwakar Reddy, Avinash Reddy and others asked the Railway GM to increase the rail connectivity from Kadapa and Kurnool to Amaravati. Ongole, Chittoor, Nellore and Guntur district MPs have asked for the speedy completion of 309 km Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line. Narasaraopet MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao has expressed displeasure over the slow progress of Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line works.

The MPs have also asked for the construction of one more line between Vijayawada-Vizag in addition to the existing double lane. The demand was made in view of the growing rail traffic between Vijayawada-Vizag.  Amalapuram MP P Ravindra said many people are being died in road accidents along the highway in Coastal districts due to lack of adequate trains facility. 

Nellore MP MekapatiRajamohan Reddy has said they conveyed a very strong message to the railway authorities to maintain hygiene in the toilets in the bogies. He said many people are reluctant to travel in the trains because of the poor condition of toilets.