Hyderabad: A delegation of Congress ministers and MPs met railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday and sought establishment of a new railway division in Kazipet and sanctioning of new railway lines for Telangana.
The delegation included ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Konda Surekha, and Seethakka, along with MPs Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, K Kavya, and P Balaram Naik. They submitted a memorandum to the Union minister at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The Union minister later laid the foundation stone for a new electronics manufacturing cluster in Mahabubnagar district.
The Congress leaders expressed gratitude to the central government for ongoing work related to the establishment of a railway manufacturing unit in Kazipet, as promised in the 2014 State Reorganisation Act. They also reiterated the need for a railway division at Kazipet to improve operations and maintenance.
With the creation of the South Coast Railway zone headquartered in Visakhapatnam, the South Central Railway zone now has only three divisions: Secunderabad, Hyderabad, and Nanded. Guntakal, Vijayawada, and Guntur were merged with the South Coast Railway zone.
“It is essential to create a new division at Kazipet to improve railway operations and safety. Kazipet already handles substantial freight and passenger traffic. A division there would outperform Guntur and Hyderabad divisions in terms of revenue,” said Komatireddy.
The delegation also requested a new Vikarabad-Krishna railway line connecting Kodangal, Parigi, and Makthal in south Telangana, and a realignment of the Gadwal-Dornakal line. Additionally, they urged the Union minister to approve a regional ring rail and improve railway connectivity across the region.
