Rail budget: AP to demand introduction of 35 new trains

Hyderabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh will press forintroduction of 35 new trains, including 17 Mail/Express,eight passenger and 10 Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS), inthe 2011-12 Union Railway Budget.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will meet UnionRailway Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi on January 21and submit the state''s proposals for new trains, sources inthe Chief Minister''s Office (CMO) here said.

Kiran Kumar held a high-level meeting with stateTransport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, South Central RailwayGeneral Manager M S Jayanth and other top officials here todayand discussed the pending railway projects related to AndhraPradesh.

Though the Planning Commission cleared the second phaseexpansion of MMTS in Hyderabad-Secunderabad twin cities, theRailway Board has not yet given its nod to the project thathas become highly popular and essential, the sources said.

"MMTS is a popular capacity-building project with a highrate of return (12 per cent). The state government has agreedto bear two-third of the project cost," they said.

There was also demand for increasing the number of dieseland electrical multiple unit (DEMU\MEMU) trains in suburbanand inter-city areas particularly in Rayalaseema and Telanganaregions. "The SCR is not getting adequate rakes (trains)because of which increasing the number of DEMU\MEMU serviceshas not become possible. We need at least five DEMU\MEMUs inRayalaseema and Telangana," the sources added. (More) PTI DBV

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New Express\Super-fast trains are also required in high traffic density routes like Kacheguda-Tirupati (viaDharmavaram), Secunderabad-Kakinada, Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam,Secunderabad-Howrah (Duronto), Tirupati-Guntur andSecunderabad-Narsapur.

The Chief Minister would also discuss pending projectslike wagon workshop at Kazipet and development of temple-townTirupati into world-class railway station.

Many other projects that were announced in the 2010-11Railway Budget, but not yet sanctioned, would also be taken upwith Mamata Banerjee, the sources said.