VIJAYAWADA: A delegation of YSRC MPs met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Tuesday and requested him for the speedy resolution of the pending issues pertaining to the State. The Minister responded positively to some of the issues and said a decision with regard to remaining will be taken after consultation with the Finance Ministry.
Briefing media persons after the meeting with the Railway Minister, YSRC Parliamentary party leader V Vijayasai Reddy said the foremost issue they raised with the Minister was regarding completion of Kadapa-Bangalore line, to which he assured to complete the same at the earliest.
“We also spoke about the issue of Kisan rails for fruit growers in Andhra Pradesh, the second largest fruit producing State. We stressed on the need for cold storage facilities at loading and unloading points. We requested for providing temperature controlled perishable cargo centres in Vizianagaram, Anantapur, Guntur, Kurnool and Chittoor districts,” Vijayasaid said.
Vijaya Sai Reddy said the Minister has responded positively to the request for additional vistadome coaches on Visakhapatnam-Araku route. “Most importantly, when we brought to his notice the pending railway projects of national importance in the State. The Minister said the projects will be completed as soon as the State government provides its share, which amounts to Rs 4,200 crore. However, given the precarious financial position of the State, it is not possible. Hence, we explained the situation to him and requested him to treat the amount as a loan, which can be repaid by the State government in due course. But, he said he will take a decision after consulting the Ministry of Finance,” the MP said.
According to him, the Minister also responded positively for operationalisation of the south coast railway zone, filling up vacancies in East Coast Railways and South Central Railways, running two additional Vade Bharat Express trains in Andhra Pradesh, High Speed Rail Corridors, Rail over and under bridges in 13 districts, stoppages of trains, renaming of Guntur-Secunderabad Express as Anavema Express and Yesvantpur-Nizamuddin-Yesvantpur Sampark Kranti Express as Kanakadasa Express.
The Railway Minister also said he would consider the request for retention of the Waltair division, container manufacturing unit, Railway Recruitment Board in the State.