AP Chambers appeals to Railways to introduce Vande Bharat to Bengaluru

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) president Potluri Bhaskar Rao, general secretary B Raja Sekhar and Executive Committee member Gurjeet Singh Sahni called on the Divisional Railway Manager Narendra A Patil at his office here on Saturday to brief him on the suggestions to improve the Vijayawada Division and submitted a representation, according to a communiqué from AP Chambers on Monday.

Hailing the announcement of the Railway Ministry to give a facelift to 11 railway stations in the Vijayawada Division to improve the aesthetic appeal of the stations and also to contribute to overall passenger satisfaction and safety, the Chambers stated that the introduction of Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada Vande Bharat train has brought down the travel time drastically and many air and road travellers shifted to train travel. As Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam are the two major cities in Andhra Pradesh and thousands of commuters travel between these two cities on a daily basis, the Chambers appealed to the DRM to introduce Vande Bharat Express in the opposite direction also to commence from Vijayawada in the morning and to return by late evening.

AP Chambers thanked the Ministry of Railways for recently launching Vande Bharat Train service between Vijayawada and Chennai. The Chambers requested the Railways to reduce the running duration of the train between these two cities from the current 6 hours and 40 minutes to 4 hours and 30 minutes so that it is beneficial to the travelers between the two cities.

The Chambers also recommended introducing the Vande Bharat train service from Vijayawada to Bengaluru via Tirupati as thousands of pilgrims visit Tirupati on a regular basis and similarly thousands travel to Bengaluru from Vijayawada.

As a measure to decongest Vijayawada Railway station, which is one of the busiest and important railway junctions in the country, AP Chambers requested the DRM to increase the number of platforms in Vijayawada Railway junction. The Chambers also appealed to the SCR to develop Gunadala and Rayanapadu stations as satellite stations to ease the congestion at the Vijayawada station.

AP Chambers mentioned that even though Vijayawada Railway Division is one of the busiest stations, very few trains originate from here. The Chambers stated that it has been requesting for more trains to be introduced from Vijayawada to major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi and Howrah and requested the DRM to appeal for adequate allotments in the 2024 budget.

The Chambers also requested faster completion of the East Coast Dedicated Freight Corridor at the earliest and the commencement of the North-South DFC (NSDFC) from Itarsi-Nagpur-Vijayawada as it will help in lowering the logistics cost to the industry.