The absence of suburban trains from Duvvada, Pendurthi and Kottavalasa stations is causing hardship to daily commuters going to Visakhapatnam. , Photo Credit: V. Raju
Despite having many tourist attractions, northern Andhra, comprising the districts of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Alluri Sitaramaraju (ASR), Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam and has an area of 23,537 km². And a population of about 95 lakhs has unfortunately remained backward.
Transport and infrastructure play an important role in the development of any region. The suburban circular railway route by Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) can be a game-changer in the area of socio-economic development of the region.
Suburban train services from Visakhapatnam city connecting various places in northern Andhra are essential for the rapid development of the region. Apart from checking the spread of new slums by migrant workers, it will ease the load on the city, said VRK Sarma and A Sreerama Rao, retired BSNL officials who have been analyzing the development for the past few years.
They say there should be suburban rail service between central Visakhapatnam city and suburbs like Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Anakapalle districts up to Tuni, which attract a large number of people to the city on a daily basis.
Visakhapatnam, the largest city of Andhra Pradesh, is spread over 50 kilometers from beginning to end and has a population of over 23 lakhs. However, public transport is not sufficient, which is evident from the increasing number of private vehicles on the roads. Suburban trains can help in reducing the congestion on the roads apart from checking the rising vehicular pollution levels.
This heritage town railway station in the Old Town area may be revived to handle passenger services, and the Maripalem Passenger Halt, developed decades ago, is to be made the terminal. Both these can decongest the Visakhapatnam Junction to some extent besides contributing to the operation of local trains. Daniel Joseph, a rail user in the city, says that renovating and upgrading these two stations does not require much money as the infrastructure is already in place.
Vizag already has a few local railway stations with adequate number of platforms and lines going to VSP and NTPC can be used to run local trains, says Ravi Teja, a rail worker based in Srikakulam.
Local trains can run from Kottavalasa to Anakapalle via Pendurthi and Duvvada. There are daily commuters to Visakhapatnam from Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram and Srikakulam and local trains can also be run to these places.
Local trains can also be run for Steel Plant via Airport, BHPV Backside, Auto Nagar and Kurmanapalem. The railway track is already in existence and requires upgradation and construction of small station buildings. Similarly local trains can be operated to Achyutapuram via NAD, Airport, Duvvada, Aganampudi, Lankelpalem, Pharmacy, APSEZ and NTPC, says Ambati Sunny Babu, another rail worker in the city.