Serious efforts are now on to pep up the popular suburban train service of Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS).
Senior officials of the government and the South Central Railway (SCR) are exchanging notes on measures to develop rail infrastructure to take up phase two.
In view of the government’s not so rosy financial position, officials seem to have come to a conclusion that the updated revised estimate of Rs. 1,810 crore for the next phase of the project would be a big burden as the former had committed to picking up two-thirds the cost.
Senior railway officials here have instead proposed to take up works where the cash outgo will be Rs. 919 crore only based on operational feasibility and commuter density.
A communication to this effect has been sent to the Chief Secretary’s office couple of months ago listing details of the sections which can be taken up as stage one.
Sanathnagar-Moula Ali chord line (21km – Rs.239 crore), Moula Ali-Malkajgiri-Sitaphalmandi chord line (10 km – Rs. 107.1 crore), Secunderabad-Medchal (28 km-Rs. 171.6 crore), Falaknuma-Umdanagar-International airport (20 km-Rs.233.1 crore) and Moula Ali ‘C’ Cabin-Cherlapalli (5 km-Rs. 50 crore) are among the works proposed under the plan.
Besides, another Rs.66 crore cost has been estimated for rolling stock like six rakes or trains and Rs. 52 crore as general charges. SCR has explained that these works will provide an uninterrupted flow of MMTS commuter traffic and will also help in decongesting the main line corridors around the twin cities.
Senior railway officials, who are surveying each and every inch of the railway lines proposed to be developed to consider whether costs could be cut down further, have sought the government’s consent to start works at the earliest. In the meantime, the government was sounded about releasing the Rs. 15 crore due to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.
The money is for procuring six pending trains of nine coaches each to augment phase one services so that the daily trips can be increased to 100 or more from the present 92 services.
However, even if the money is released immediately, rakes manufacture will take nearly a year since the factory is busy with making coaches for the Kolkata metro, senior officials indicated.
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