Hyderabad: The Chief Minister Mr. N Kiran Kumar Reddy made an impassionate plea to the Members of Parliament from the State to rise above party lines and regions and be united with the State Government to get maximum railway projects sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister said that the State Government was making all out efforts to see that State shares are released on time to get the Railway projects completed. All of us should put pressure on the Railway Ministry and the Board to complete all the projects under the able guidance of Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi. The Government of India sanctioned the Kazipet Wagon Factory after the Chief Minister and the Members of Parliament together met the then Railway Minister.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting convened on Railway Projects with Members of Parliament at Jubilee Hall today. Union Minister of state for Human Resources, Smt. Purandareswari, Transport Minister and APCC president B.Satyanarayana, R&B Minister D.Prasada Rao, Major Irrigation Minister P Sudarshan Reddy, General Manager of South Central Railway, Mr Asthana, Senior Railway officials and Engineers, Senior State Officials attended the meeting. The MPs who attended the meeting were T Subbarami Reddy, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, M.Sreenivasulu Reddy, M.Jagannadham, G.Sukhender Reddy, S.P.Y.Reddy, S.Satyanarayana, L.Rajagopal, Suresh Shetkar, Nandi Yelliah, K.M.Khan, Harsha Kumar, Madhu Yashki, K.Bapi Raju, J.D.Seelam, R.Sambasiva Rao and Anjan Kumar Yadav. Each of them represented the cause for completion of ongoing railway projects and new lines in their respective constituencies.

The Chief Minister said that the Union Minister for Railways Mr Dinesh Trivedi will be coming to Hyderabad to discuss about the pending and new Railway projects. He said a comprehensive blue print about the pending, ongoing and new railway projects should be ready before that. We can then clearly list out pending and new projects before the Minister and take it up further at Delhi too. The Chief Minister said that all problems regarding railway projects and trains should be sorted out for the overall benefit of the State. Transport Minister B.Satyanarayana said the meeting was convened so that all concerned would have an idea about the railway needs of the State. The General Manager, South Central Railway, Mr. Asthana made a detailed presentation on the status of the various railway projects already taken up.

The General Manager said South Central Railway is one of the largest zonal Railways of Indian Railway. It carries 370 Million passengers and 100 Million Tonnes of freight traffic per year. The Gross earning of SCR during 2010-11 was Rs.8532 Crs. The SCR has a committed work force of 86,000 employees. The SCR has a budget of Rs.1160 Crs for the current year for various projects related to New lines, Gauge conversion, doubling, electrification, workshops, capacity enhancement works, staff & passenger amenities etc. He also gave an overview of the completed new rail line projects in the last 11 years, completed guage conversion projects in last 11 years, completed doubling of projects in last 11 years, cost-sharing projects by State Government, new lines targeted for completion by 2011-12, other sanctioned works, doubling, third line, Multi-Model Transportation System (MMTS)- Phase II, wagon factory at Kazipet, surveys submitted to the Railway Board, surveys awaiting decisions by the Board, surveys in progress, socially desirable surveys, other important issues including Adarsh stations.

Among the cost-sharing projects by the State Government are: New lines between Bhadrachalam-Kovvur, new line connecting Medak, New line between Manuguru and Ramagundam, Nadikudi-Srikalahasthi, doubling and electrification of Vijayawada-Narsapur-Nidadavole, doubling and electrification of Guntur-Tenali-Repalle, Kadapa-Bangalore, Kotipalli-Narsapur, Cumbum-Prodattur, Kondapalli-Kothagudem, Kakinada-Pithapuram, Secunderabad-Mahbubnagar, Gadwal-Macherla, Kadir-Puttaparthy, Manharabad-Kothapalli, Pandurangapuram-Sarpaka, Bitragunta-Srisailam via Kalwakurthy and Tumkur-Raidurg.

The State Government also made a detailed presentation about the Railway Projects, proposed new trains in Andhra Pradesh, Extension of Existing trains, additional stoppages as suggested by the MPs/MLAs/MLCs, changes in the number of days of services of trains existing at present, new lines mentioned in the earlier budget and yet to be sanctioned, projects already surveyed and pending with Railway Board for sanction, new lines required for fresh surveys, projects cleared by Railway Board and Planning Commission and latest status of the pending railway projects in Andhra Pradesh. Summing up the meeting, the Chief Minister asked the State Government officials and the Railways to sit together in a day or two to sort out the basic problems with regards to the already sanctioned but not grounded projects. These include new railway projects, new trains, new lines, new halts etc. He also asked the officials to prepare a comprehensive report by prioritizing the projects with the suggestions made by the Members of the Parliament and the proposals already submitted. He also asked the officials to find out the reasons for the slow progress of some of the sanctioned projects and try to solve these problems. Referring to the various survey and land acquisition problems, the Chief Minister said that even though there is shortage of funds, as far as the state government is concerned, total funds have been provided to the Railways for the cost sharing projects but the railways were not able to spend their part of the share. For instance, the Chief Minister said that for one project the State Government has provided Rs 300 Crores last year towards its share but the Railways has provided only Rs 140 Crores.