HYDERABAD: Stating that for Southern States, the railway budget, 2016-17, offered partnership with State governments of Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for developing suburban sections in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai respectively, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu expressed satisfaction over the way allocations have been made in the budget for sibling States- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Soon after the presentation of the Railway Budget for the coming fiscal year in Parliament, on Thursday, Venkaiah Naidu hailed the budget as one which was aimed at improving ‘customer satisfaction’ on all fronts. According to Naidu, as far as AP was concerned, of the total outlay, 27 per cent of more allocations were made to the State, in the budget, as compared to the previous railway budget.
Beautify Tirupati Railway Station
“Budget has proposed to beautify Tirupati railway station so as to develop it as spiritual centre, besides planning to set up dedicated freight corridor between Kharagpur and Vijayawada. Ordering of survey for 9 projects which include Vijayawada-Guntur via Amaravati with an approximate length of 67 km is also a good step,” Venkaiah Naidu stated.
He also hailed the proposals to undertake new works in AP, including Guntakal-Guntur rail line with approximate length of 443 km.
Promotion of Suburban Rail Systems
Venkaiah Naidu said that coming to Telangana, rail department had come forward to help in promotion of suburban railway systems in Hyderabad.
According to him, for the other Southern States, the railway budget offered several new projects. For instance, first Railway Auto Hub was allocated to Chennai whereas 19 per cent increase in total outlay was allocated to Karnataka when compared to 2015-16.
“The railway budget for next year presented in Parliament today is a continuation of work in progress initiated last year with the objective of putting the system on track with focus on improvement of systems,” he stated. He further said that it clearly outlined the efforts to ensure professional management of the vast system with focus on efficiency of operations, cost reduction, improved project management. “In nutshell, the Railway Budget for 2016-17 is innovative and inspiring,” he added.