Date:18/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/18/stories/2008071854680800.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Additional rail line for Guntur cleared

Staff Reporter

GUNTUR: The Guntur main railway station will have an additional railway line -- the eighth one on the eastern side (Arundelpet) with a full-fledged station building complex.

The Railway Board has given its administrative sanction for the laying of the additional line at a cost of Rs.5 crores to take the load of trains at the platform here, Divisional Railway Manager M. Akthar told reporters here on Thursday. He formally opened an extension Reservation counter on the Eastern side of the Main Station to help people from Old Guntur areas to gain access to the reservation facility.

Reservation counter with one terminal would operate from 8 a.m to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. till the demand increased, he added. The Railways was looking for a 10 feet by 10 feet place in some Municipal Complex in the vicinity of the NTR bus station so that a full-fledged terminal was set up there for passenger reservation tickets, Mr. Akthar added. "We are waiting for the GMC to allot some place for us to being the facility," he pointed out.

The division would plant about 15,000 trees during this month as part of greening the surroundings of railway stations and the Railway Colony constructed at Nallapadu. He said that they had planted 10,000 saplings in the colony so far.

Meanwhile, inauguration of the Guntur Vijayawada second railway line is waiting for the Safety Inspection by Commissioner Railway Safety (under ministry of civil aviation). The construction by Railways has been completed, he added. The DRM also inspected the passenger amenities on the main platform.