HYDERABAD: To provide better railway connectivity for people of the northern Telangana region, the South Central Railway (SCR) zone, which completed the rail route electrification of about three-fourth of the distance between Peddapalli-Nizamabad, is all set to cover the remaining section by September-end.
On this section, a total distance of 133 km has been electrified between Peddapalli-Mortad till now and the works between Mortad-Nizamabad, a 45-km stretch, is set to be completed in two to three months, SCR officials said.
Once completed, it will provide seamless movement of trains by avoiding change in traction power by connecting northern Telangana with New Delhi.
“This will reduce the route detention of both the coaching and freight trains and will provide scope for running of more freight trains through this section. We will also improve the average speed of trains (by reducing detention). Besides being environmental-friendly while saving fuel, this will be cost-effective,” a senior official said.
For the project, initially an 83-km section between Peddapalli-Lingampet Jagityal was sanctioned in 2015-16 (with a cost of Rs 84.5 crore). The electrification work between Peddapalli-Gangadhara (56.7 km) was completed in March 2019, and the section between Gangadhara-Lingampet Jagityal (26.3 km) was completed in July 2019.
Later, the section between Lingampet Jagityal-Nizamabad was sanctioned in the year 2017-18 (95 km) at a cost of Rs 109.69 crore. The electrification between Lingampet Jagityal-Mortad (50 km) was completed in March 2021, while the works in the remaining sections are in progress.
Other sections which remain to be electrified will be Manmad-Mudkhed-Medchal.
“Once this is completed, seamless connectivity will be provided between the financial capital Mumbai and Hyderabad,” officials said.
Improving connectivity