POTKAPALLI

- Part of Kazipet – Balharshah tripling & electrification project

- Yard remodelling at Kolnur and Potkapalli completed successfully

The significant third line project in the Grand Trunk route of Telangana region viz., Kazipet – Balharshah project has been given further boost with the completion & commissioning of works between Kolnur and Potkapalli for a distance of 7.746 Kms, along with electrification and yard remodelling. The section between Kazipet – Balharshah is a vital rail link situated along the Grand Trunk Route connecting Northern with Southern region of the country. The completion of the new section will provide continuous third line facility for train operations along a stretch of 64 Kms between Potkapalli – Mandamarri, including the third line o­n Godavari Bridge between Manchiryal & Peddampet.

The section between Kazipet – Balharshah o­n South Central Railway majorly comes under Telangana state, with a minor portion falling in the State of Maharashtra. This main line provides crucial rail connectivity to many Cement clusters, Coal screening plants and Power Houses situated in this section. Due to the continuous increase in both freight and passenger services in this route, the section had become Over-saturated. To decongest this high-density section, the tripling works between Raghavapuram – Mandamarri for a distance of 33 Kms have been completed in the year 2016. To further ease the traffic, tripling & electrification o­n the balance stretch of Kazipet – Balharshah section, for a distance of 202 Kms (Telangana-159 Kms & Maharashtra-43 Kms) has been sanctioned in the year 2015-16 with an estimated cost of Rs 2,063 Crore. The execution of third line works of the entire project is being taken up simultaneously in different sections and the works in all stretches of both Telangana & Maharashtra region are progressing in the fast pace.

Salient Features of the third line and electrification commissioned between Kolanur and Potkapalli:-

Ø Construction of Third line along with electrification has been completed for distance of 7.746 kms between Potkapalli and Kolanur.

Ø As a part of tripling, Potkapalli yard has been remodelled with distributed Electronic Interlocking system consisting of 113 routes, 46 signals, 26 points and 50 track circuits.

Ø Intermediate Block Signal has been provided between Kolnur and Potkapalli with modern type signalling.

Ø The Non-Interlocking work has been taken up at a single stretch at Kolnur Yard, which has benefitted by reducing the train detention time.

Ø Mid-section Level crossing gates have been interlocked in both directions.

Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway appreciated the efforts Team of both Secunderabad Division and Construction Organisation who have commissioned the work, with minimum impact to the train operations. He opined that completion of Kazipet – Balharshah tripling project eases the congestion in this Grand Trunk route and facilitates handling of higher number of trains in a more efficient manner.

- Don’t Believe Rumours o­n Some Media Platforms

- Sri. Gajanan Mallya, GM,SCR

Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway stated that all train movements are going in an orderly fashion and there has been no overcrowding in any station in zonal jurisdiction. SCR will continue to take all precautions and ensure passenger travel in a safe condition. He also made an appeal to the people to desist from believing and spreading the rumors circulating o­n some media platforms. He conducted a virtual press conference o­n SCR’s performance and COVID-19 precautions being observed by the Zone today i.e., 9th April, 2021 from Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad and Media representatives participated through web conference.

The General Manager informed that, South Central Railway is presently running 180 originating reserved trains o­n an average per day to serve the travel needs of passengers duly observing the COVID-19 pandemic protocols in the station premises and in trains. It is running regular trains in all most all the directions including important destinations like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Nanded, Aurangabad, Pune and Tirupati etc.

South Central Railway has further braced up to initiate various measures in the direction of implementing COVID-19 Protocol, keeping the interests of rail users foremost. All the rail users are requested to be vigilant against the COVID-19 virus and take necessary precautions while commencing their journey to avoid further repercussions, the General Manager added.

SCR’s performance during 2020-21

Shri Gajanan Mallya detailed that, South Central Railway accorded top priority to the enhancement of infrastructure during the pandemic period also. The collective efforts put by the team SCR with their hard work, excellence and co-ordination across all the departments has resulted in completion of the major infrastructural projects as per the targets along with several maintenance works.

Ø Safety continues to be top most priority for South Central Railway. After being a pioneer in the implementation of TCAS project during the development phase, SCR has put o­ne major step forward by extending the TCAS project to 321 additional kms spread over 34 stations.

Ø SCR completed construction of new lines for a length of 42.5 kms, which includes Manoharabad – Gajwel (31 kms) and Jaklair – Makthal (11.5 kms).

Ø SCR completed doubling of 161.5 kms, which includes Uppaluru – Gudivada – Moturu & Gudivada – Machilipatnam (68.7 kms), Nallapadu – Perecherla (7.8 kms), Gajjelakonda to Donakonda (12.4 kms), Pendekallu – Eduladodi (8.6 kms), Gollapalli – Shadnagar (30.2 kms), Chigicherla – Zangalapalle (10.7 kms), Taticherla – Garladinne (9.1 kms) and Falaknuma – Umdanagar (14.0 kms).

Ø SCR completed the tripling of 60.4 kms of its network during the current financial year. The works of tripling includes Raghavapuram – Kolanur – Potkapalli (Kazipet – Balharshah sectuion) for a length of 30.5 kms and Kavali – Ulavapadu (Vijayawada – Gudur section) for a length of 29.9 kms.

Ø SCR completed Gauge conversion works for a length of 44.4 kms between Akola – Akot section (part of Akola – Khandwa gauge conversion project).

Ø SCR electrified a total length of 750 track kilometres during the financial year, which includes 612.7 kms of new electrified sections and 137.1 kms of double and triple lines.

Ø SCR constructed Road Over Bridges, Road under Bridges and Limited Height Sub-ways to eliminate 81 Manned Level Crossings o­n the Zone.

Ø SCR has run 658 Time Tabled Parcel trains and transported 2, 63,393 tonnes of essential commodities to various destinations.

Ø SCR has run 310 Doodh Duronto Special Trains and transported 7.30 crore litres of Milk to New Delhi.

Ø SCR operated 120 Kisan Rails from the zone to various parts of the Nation and transported 39,561 Tonnes of Agricultural produce.