Kazipet coach factory, Vizag rail zone & rapid rail projects stuck
PNS|Hyderabad
With around 10 months left to implement APRA 2014, there is no progress regarding the Kazipet coach factory, the Visakhapatnam Railway Zone and rapid rail connectivity from Hyderabad to cities in Andhra Pradesh. The Kazipet Railway Coach Factory has remained a dream for four decades in Telangana. All parties in Telangana and the BRS government put pressure on the Centre and also allotted land for it but there is no progress. The Ministry of Railways made it clear before August 2019 that there is no need for coach factories in the country now as more coaches are being manufactured in existing factories than the number of coaches required annually in the country.
Moreover, even in future, there is no possibility of setting up a coach factory in Telangana under any circumstances.
Recently, this month as per an RTI query filed by Inaganti Ravikumar, the railways was once again asked for a proposal for a coach factory and the railways replied that there is no move for a coach factory in Telangana.The Railway Board took a decision on December 12, 2015, to set up a POH at Kazipet. It is not a manufacturing project but a servicing one. As Kazipet is a major rail junction in the south, it is reasonable to expect that it will be established. But a coach factory would have provided employment to hundreds of people as well as created ancillary industries and indirect employment.
In August 2018, in Lathur a Rs 625 crore project on 413 acres was sanctioned and completed in three years.
The stipulation is that railway projects mentioned in the 13th Schedule of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act should be completed within 10 years. This time limit will expire in another 10 months.
The railway department has proposed and surveyed the route from Vijayawada to AP capital Amaravati at a cost of Rs 1700 crore, but state governments did not show interest and it was set aside.
As per the Railway Board bulletin for 2023–24 an outlay of Rs 10 crore was proposed for the “creation of a new South Coast Railway Zone and a new Rayagada division under the East Coast Railway.”
An amount of Rs 15 lakh has been spent for the “creation of a new Rayagada Division in East Coast Railway.” The report said that the approval of a Detail Project Report (DPR) for the creation of a South Coast Railway zone is under review and the RTI reply said, “No time frame can be fixed for operationalization of the new zone.”
After nine years, the Central Railway Department has initiated the rapid rail connectivity project mentioned in the AP Bifurcation Act from Hyderabad to the AP capital and other cities.
Responding to an RTI query, the South Central Railway said that a decision was taken by the Railway Board in February.
Tenders for the preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey of the proposed Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada -Shamshabad and Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada (via Kurnool) routes totalling 942 km (220 km maximum speed) have been finalized in March and survey is in progress.
