South Central Railway (SCR), which has completed 750-track-kilometres electrification in the last financial year (2020-21) taking advantage of the limited run of trains due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has now laid out a plan to duplicate the feat again this financial year since the second wave has stalled movement of trains again.
Senior officials informed on Monday that identifying strategic sections and a focused approach helped complete the record task, almost double to the preceding year’s achievement paving the way for a smooth running of trains en route without detention. In fact, this has also helped in running the Oxygen Expresses quickly without any major interruptions. Of the total length of 6,424 track km of zone rail network, 4,014 track km stand electrified, which is about 62%. This includes 2,587 km electrified in Andhra Pradesh, followed by over 1,119 km in Telangana, 192 km in Karnataka, 108 km in Maharashtra and 7 km in Tamil Nadu.
‘Mission Electrification’ has resulted in electrification of 1,901 km in last five years with major sections like Bibinagar-Nadikudi section providing the shortest and vital connection between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Moula Ali-Ghatkesar first ever quadrupling in the zone helping in easing congestion in and around Secunderabad.
Other sections are: Wadi – Guntakal section of Mumbai-Chennai route, Guntur-Guntakal section linking Amaravati with Rayalaseema, Guntakal-Kalluru section linking Rayalaseema region to Karnataka, Guntur-Tenali-Repalle sections connecting branch line with trunk route on main line, Obulavaripalle-Venkatachalam-Krishnapatnam, important rail link for freight trains.
Significant portions of Peddapalli-Karimnagar-Nizamabad section (completed from Peddapalli upto Lingampet-Jagityal), Vijayawada to Bhimavaram town including Gudivada-Machilipatnam was completed, they explained.
“We were able to provide seamless connectivity to trains between Chennai-Mumbai, Chennai-Vijayawada-Hyderabad, Bengaluru - New Delhi by completing strategic sections,” said General Manager Gajanan Mallya. This has helped in increasing the freight carrying capacity plus increase in the average speeds from 24-48 kmph too. Less trains movement helped engineers execute foot-to-foot surveys, designs, identifying locations for switching stations, maintenance depots, tower wagon sidings, etc., pertaining to civil, signal and telecom works. Pre-cast foundation blocks, mechanised foundation digging, mast erections and deploying large workforce in advance with machinery during pre-arranged traffic blocks helped in finishing the job, said Chief Public Relations Officer Ch. Rakesh.