Shri K H Muniyappa, Hon'ble Minister of State for Railways conveneda meeting along with Dr. N. Siva Prasad, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Chittoor along with Senior Officers of South Central Railway headed by Shri G N Asthana, General Manager to review the on-going Projects and other Railway issues at Tirupati.
Sri K.H.Muniyappa, Hon’ble Union Minister of State of Railways, reviewed the SCR performance and complemented the Officer and Staff for showing the remarkable performance during the last financial year 2011-12, during which SCR achieved a record Loading of 103 Million Tonnes and carried 384 Million Passengers. The Gross Earningsof SCR registered Rs.8194 Crs, with a growth rate of 11.5%. During this period, Rs. 94 Crs. have been spent towards upgrading Passenger Amenities at various Stations.
Railways have been making concerted efforts to develop Tirupati Railway Station, which is a major pilgrim hub. The Station handles 65,000 Passengers and 75 Trains on an average per day. Keeping in view the public demands for more number of Train Services to Tirupati, Railways have been introducing several new trains to Tirupati every year .
During the lastfinancial year the following Trains have been introduced from/via Tirupati:
1.Tr. No. 22856/22855Tirupati-Santragachi Express (Weekly)
2.Tr. No. 12765/12766 Tirupati-Amaravati Express (Bi-weekly)
3.Tr. No. 57478/57477 Tirupati-Guntakal Passenger
4.Tr. No. 22851 /22852 Santragachi-Mangalore Vivek Express (Weekly) passing through Tirupati
In the recent Railway Budget 2012, Tirupati has got 3 New Originating Trains, Extension of 1 Train and increase in frequency for 2 Trains as below:
New Originating Trains
1.Tirupati-Bhubaneshwar Express (Weekly)
2.Tirupati-Mannargudi Express (Tri-weekly)
3.Tirupati-Karimnagar Express (Weekly)
Extension of Train
1.Tr. No. 16780/16779 Tirupati - Madurai Express to Rameswaram
Increase in Frequency
1.Tr. No.12732/12731 Tirupati-Secunderabad Express (2 to 4 days)
2.Tr. No.16780/16779 Tirupati-Madurai Express (2 to 3 days)
Emphasis is being given to upgrade the Passenger Amenities at Tirupati Railway Station so as to provide a comfortable service to the Passengers. During the last 3 yearsseveral Passenger Amenity Works of worth Rs.7.7Crs. have been completed.
Some of the major works taken upin the last three years at Tirupati include:
vProvision of AC Waiting Hall on Platform No.1.
vDevelopment of Circulating Area on Southern side.
vDevelopment of new PRS on Southern side.
vAir cooling of Concourse Area.
vFive washable aprons on all Platform Lines including water hydrant lines, to facilitate easy cleaning
vThree lifts of 13 passenger carrying capacity provided on all Platforms.
vExtension of Concourse.
vNew General Waiting Hall above the Concourse Area.
vPay & Use Toilets on Platform No. 1, new Waiting Hall and in extended Concourse Area.
vAdditional space on Platform No. 1 created by shifting the offices to 1st floor.
vSupply of Reverse Osmosis (RO) purified water at all taps on all Platforms.
vRaising low level Platform Shelter Covers to the standard heights.
vProvision of easy to clean dadoing to the Platform wall.
In addition, a large number of Passenger Amenity works at a cost of Rs.4.42 Crs have already been sanctioned and their progress will be expedited for early completion.
To facilitate easy transit across Platforms, four Escalators are planned to be provided at a cost of Rs.2.8 Crs. during the current year in addition to the already existing 3 Lifts.
Other sanctioned major Passenger Amenity works which are being currently taken up include
vBeautification of Station Building at a cost of Rs.60 lakhs.
vProvision of additional Entry/Exit at a cost of Rs.47 lakhs.
vProvision of Cycle/ Scooter stand at South Side of Tirupati Station at a cost of Rs.32 lakhs.
vMicroprocessor based LED destination display system for Tr.No.17405/06 Krishna Express,
for Tr.No.12733/34 Narayanadri Express and for Tr.No.17429/30 Rayalaseema Express at a cost of Rs.96 lakhs.
vAugmentation of Water supply due to increased demand at a cost of Rs.80 lakhs.
vConstruction of HL RCC over head tank with a capacity of 2,50,000 liters at the cost of Rs.90 lakhs.
vProvision of water supply arrangement from Swarna Mukhi river to Tirupati Station at a cost ofRs.77 Lakhs
vTouch Screen Enquiry Terminals at convenient locations to facilitate easy enquiry process without any need to wait at counters
Regarding the World Class Station at Tirupati, as it was found difficult to develop existing Tirupati Station as World Class Station due to built-up area around the Station and shortage of land, it is planned to develop the World Class Station at a convenient nearby halt station - Tirupati West.
The Empowered Committee consisting of State Level Officials has already approved the plan for developing the World Class Station at Tirupati West. The Government of AP has also given the consent for developing the World Class Station at Tirupati West, subject to the payment of the cost of land for an area of 21.3 acres. The Inception Report is under the consideration ofMinistry of Railways.
South Central Railway, which comprises of 86% of the Railway Network in Andhra Pradesh, has got significant announcements in terms of New Trains, New Projects and allocations for Passenger Amenities etc in the recent Railway Budget 2012. It is noteworthy that out of the 75 Mail/Express Trains announced, 15 will Originate from SCR and another 10 will pass through SCR. Thus Passengers on SCR can avail 1/3rd of the total Express trains to be introduced during the next financial year.
Out of the total 11 New Railway Line Projects sanctioned in the Budget-2012, Andhra Pradesh has got 2 Projects -- [1.] Bhadrachalam-Kovvur (151 kms at a cost of Rs.923 Crs.), [2.] Akannapet-Medak (17 kms at a cost of Rs.57 Crs.). An amount of Rs.275 Crs. has been allotted in the Budget for the sanctioned New Line Projects on SCR. In addition, an ambitious project of MMTS Phase-II in Twin Cities has also been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.631 Crs., for which the AP State Government agreed to share 2/3rdof the cost.
Towards Passenger Amenities, the allocation to South Central Railway has been increased significantly to Rs.124 Crs. for FY 2012-13 as against Rs.82 Crs. last year.
During the previous financial year 2011-12, SCR completed a record 132 Kms of New Lines and 25 ROBs. The State Government of Andhra Pradesh has been providing requisite help in execution of Railway Projects in the State and close coordination is being maintained with State Government for the speedy completion of the already sanctioned Projects.
In line with the Railways' strong commitment to Safety, highest priority is being accorded to Safety in Train Working. In view of the Safety concerns at Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs), SCR has already started the process of eliminating UMLCs by year 2015. During the last financial year, 159 such road crossings have been removed on SCR.