South Central Railway (SCR)’s largest project, the Kadapa-Bangalore new railway line, will soon turn into reality as the foundation stone was recently laid at the Kadapa railway station by Minister of state for Railways, KH Muniyappa. The project will involve a total expenditure of about Rs 2,000 crore, which the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments have agreed to bear on a 50:50 basis.
“The new line will reduce the distance considerably between Kadapa and Bangalore. It has the potential to boost economy and generate employment in the region. The project will be completed in about five years," KH Muniyappa said, adding that the entire doubling of the railway line between Renigunta-Guntakal will be completed by 2011.
The Kadapa-Bangalore railway line, once completed, will not only reduce the distance by 226km as compared to the route via Renigunta but will also serve as a shorter alternative route between North India and Bangalore.
SCR, one of the 16 railway zones of Indian Railways (IR) that has its headquarters at Secunderabad covers destinations like Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal parts in state of Andhra Pradesh and also parts of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. SCR has also recently announced to run weekly special trains between Kacheguda and Bangalore to clear extra rush of traffic on Sundays. Accordingly, the trains will run from Kacheguda end on September 5, 12, 19 and 26, and Bangalore City end from September 6, 13, 20 and 27.
