Patancheru-Medak rail line remains a pipe dream

Every government that has ever come to power in undivided Andhra Pradesh and later Telangana has promised a new railway line between Medak and Patancheru.
Patancheru-Medak rail line remains a pipe dream

SANGAREDDY: Every government that has ever come to power in undivided Andhra Pradesh and later Telangana has promised a new railway line between Medak and Patancheru. The demand, or rather dream, for a new railway line is an old one. It gained momentum in 1980 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to contest from the Medak Parliamentary constituency.

During her campaign, Gandhi had said a railway line connecting Patancheru, Sangareddy, Jogipet, Medak and Akkannapet would change the people’s lives by helping in the growth of industries, businesses and even tourism.

The people of Medak perhaps believed Gandhi. They got her elected from the constituency and then waited for her to fulfil her promise. Soon enough, there was progress. A railway station was built at Patancheru and connected to Lingampally; it would be the first step towards Sangareddy, Jogipet, Medak and ultimately Akannapet. However, before this could happen Gandhi was assassinated in 1984.

Since then, the railway station at Patancheru exists only on paper. Trains stopped running on this nascent line as people had no reason to use it. The issue assumes political significance every poll season.

At one point, a few like-minded people, including local politicians, came together to form the ‘Railway Line Sadhana Samithi’ in an attempt to amplify their voice. G Joginath, the convenor of the organisation, says, “So many people would have benefited had the railway line been built by now. The factories located in the Patancheru industrial area would have been connected to North India.”

Joginath points out that more often than not, there is heavy traffic on the Hyderabad-Mumbai and Hyderabad-Nanded highways. “This problem could be solved by a railway line,” Joginath says. Railway Line Sadhana Samithi members believe that the State government is to blame for the delay.

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