VIJAYAWADA: In a bid to ease rail traffic congestion in the Vijayawada Railway Station, the South Central Railway (SCR) authorities have come up with a proposal to develop and expand the Rayanapadu Station in the city limits for the convenience of the passengers. A proposal in this regard was sent to the Railway Board, seeking its permission to take up the expansion works in the 150 acre of land owned by the Railways near the station. The officials are expecting a budget allocation for the realisation of the project in the upcoming Budget session.
According to information received from the SCR officials of the Vijayawada division, over the years trains, travelling between Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, had been making a halt at the Rayanapadu and the Kondapalli stations for several minutes, as there was no room at the platforms in the Vijayawada station. The delay caused much inconvenience to the passengers, as the stations didn’t have basic facilities such as supply of drinking water and food.
To avoid this, the SCR authorities had developed Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) System at the Vijayawada station a year ago at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore. However, the problem still stands unresolved and the trains travelling between Secunderabad and Chennai are still halting at the Rayanapadu station. As a result of this the SCR authorities has came up with the proposal to develop the Rayanapadu station by constructing additional platforms to it.
‘’During the Krishna Pushkarams-2016, the SCR had developed the railway station in Rayanapadu as a satellite station and operated additional trains from Krishna region to various places. We want to replicate the same by developing the existing station to divert the trains between Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, without those entering the Vijayawada station to ease the traffic congestion,’’ said a senior SCR official, on condition of anonymity.
The Rayanapadu station is located 14 km away from Vijayawada. A meeting had already taken place with the APSRTC officials to increase the frequency of buses plying to Rayanapadu for the convenience of the passengers. The RTC officials have responded to the appeal made by the SCR officials in a positive way and are searching for a suitable location to construct a bus terminal near Rayanapadu, the SCR official said.
However, the SCR’s proposal to develop the Rayanapadu station as an alternative to the Vijayawada junction has been evoking mixed response from the public and people’s representatives. Several of them are of the opinion that Vijayawada junction, one of the biggest stations in the country, will lose its sheen if the SCR develops the Rayanapadu station.