Hyderabad rail project in one year?

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JUNE 27. The Multi Nodal Transport Service for Hyderabad and the surrounding areas, estimated to cost Rs. 70 crores, is under active consideration of the Railway Board, and the SCR has set itself an ambitious target of completing the work in a year, according to the General Manager of the South Central Railway, Mr. N. Krithivasan.

He said it would require construction of 10 new stations, increased frequency of suburban trains and a synergy with the road transport authorities. Phase two of the MNTS may include a rail link to the new airport at Shamshabad, underground and elevated corridors to cover congested city areas and a possible rail link between Hyderabad and Kachiguda stations. Survey work for this phase was slated to begin soon.

He said it had already received the consent of the Planning Commission and the final decision had to be taken by the Union Cabinet but he saw no problems since the State Government, too, was very keen on its early completion.

The new railway timetable he released today had been made user- friendly by making the tables easy to read, putting information in a serial form and incorporating four different ways of searching for train routes and timings.

Mr. Krithivasan said that the SCR achieved 95 per cent punctuality and now they were in a position to reduce timings of certain trains as had been reflected in the new timetable.

Reacting to questions about rail safety in the context of the recent accident in Kerala, Mr. Krithivasan said that regular checks were conducted on all bridges and data on them was kept for 15 years. At present, four bridges, including the one on the Krishna, had been identified for rebuilding and the work will be completed within a year.

He said that every train had `fail-safe' safety features to minimise the possibility of accidents. The air and vacuum brakes were programmed to react immediately in such situations and the guard and driver, both of whom were in constant communication, also controlled manual brakes.

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Section  : Southern States
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