In a significant development, work on electrification of the nearly 183-km long Mudkhed-Pimpalkhuti railway line under Nanded division of the South Central Railway (SCR) has started.
Once the electrification is done, this line will most likely see some trains running on the main line connecting south and north getting routed from Hyderabad via Nizamabad, Mudkhed (in Maharashtra) and Adilabad in SCR, merging into the main line at Majri in Central Railways.
Electrification of the 80-km stretch between Pimpalkhuti station, the last station in SCR on the Telangana-Maharashtra border and Majri, is in an advanced stage of completion according to sources. Work on this side of the border is taking place at a brisk pace with electric poles being erected on the line near Umram station at present.
Adilabad railway station was developed as a model facility with six lines back in 2007. Though the station was meant to handle a traffic of 40 trains per day, some of them by way of diversion from the main line, only a few run on this line especially trains transporting coal to the Parli Vaijnath Thermal Power Station in Maharashtra.
Some of the trains which were originally planned to be run on this line were eventually run through other stations in Maharashtra the Nanded-Sriganganagar Express being a case in point. In order to reiterate the utility aspect of this line, observers recall the August 2009 accident on the main line in Ramagundam railway station which saw trains being diverted through Adilabad.
“Actually, electrification is taking place in almost all un-electrified sections in the Nanded division now,” revealed a source in the SCR. “Works on the Parli-Parbhani line and Purna-Akola line are going on simultaneously,” he added.
Goods traffic
Adilabad-Mudkhed line has seen only goods traffic during the ongoing lockdown period besides berthing of three or four Shramik Specials in the yard.
The period actually seems to have come in handy for the authorities to carry on the work speedily.