Hyderabad: Falaknuma-Umdanagar rail works on a war footing

Falaknuma: The South Central Railway (SCR) has changed gears to complete the long pending Falaknuma-Umdanagar stretch works that include doubling of rail line, electrification and along with automatic signaling on war footing.

According to officials, the 13.5km stretch once opened will enhance rail connectivity and citizens can commute to their destinations without any hurdles. The project is a part of MMTS phase II proposal of 2014. Earlier, this stretch had only single line that connects to Bengaluru. As part of MMTS phase II project, doubling of rail line and electrification has been planned along with automatic signaling that is likely to improve the punctuality of passenger trains heading towards Secunderabad station to some extent. With the completion of works, more trains can be run simultaneously, including freight ones.

On the condition of anonymity, a senior officer of SCR said , "MMTS second phase works is a joint project of the Ministry for Railways and Telangana government on the basis of cost-sharing (one third by the South Central Railways and two third by the state government). But, an amount of Rs 450 crore is still pending from the state government. SCR is carrying out the works with the aim of completing them as soon as possible. About 75 percent of Falaknuma-Umdanagar stretch works have been completed. Railways is planning to finish the works by this summer."

"Under this MMTS phase two project, various stretches including Medchal-Bolarum, Tellapur-Ramachandrapuram, Ramachandrapuram – Patancheru, Moula Ali-Ghatkesar and Secunderabad-Bolaram have already been completed. MMTS Phase I runs 121 services between Falaknuma - Secunderabad - Hyderabad - Lingampalli - Ramachandrapuram. MMTS Phase II is proposed for distance of 84 km with an estimated cost of Rs 817 crore," the officer added.