Chirala-Bapatla third-line electrification completed

 Vijayawada: Third railway line between Chirala and Bapatla stations commissioned along with electrification as part of Vijayawada – Gudur tripling & electrification project. With this, 189 km of different stretches between Vijayawada - Gudur now stand electrified along with a third-line facility. The major thrust given to infrastructure projects by South Central Railway has made possible for the zone to achieve major progress in Vijayawada - Gudur third-line project.

The railway officials stated that this major tripling project along with electrification in the state of Andhra Pradesh was progressing well and accordingly one more important section between Chirala - Bapatla for a distance of 16.7 km has been completed and commissioned by the zone. This helps in decongesting the saturated route and eases the train operations. This stretch of railway line falls under Prakasam and Bapatla districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Arun Kumar Jain, general manager, SCR said that the section between Vijayawada – Gudur of Andhra Pradesh which was situated in the Grand Trunk route over SCR plays a vital role in connecting the northern and eastern parts of the country with the southern states.

He further said that this route has become highly congested with the steady increase in both passenger and freight trains.

He explained that to decongest this crucial section, the Vijayawada – Gudur third-line project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 288 km at an approximate cost of Rs 3246 crore and the work had been executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.

Works have been taken up simultaneously in all the stretches. So far, the sections between Chirala - Karavadi for 45 km and the continuous stretch between Gudur - Singarayakonda for 127 km have been completed and commissioned successfully. Now, with the completion of the 16.7 km section between Chirala - Bapatla, the total of 189 km of the total section stands electrified along with the third line.

Arun Kumar Jain has conveyed his appreciation to the entire team of both Vijayawada division and RVNL officials, who have been actively involved in completing the tripling and electrification works.