The Indian Railways new line between Piduguralla and Savalyapuram has been completed and commissioned for train movement.
The new 46 km long railway line is part of the Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line project in Andhra Pradesh.
The new railway line will facilitate direct traffic movement from Secunderabad to Dhone via New Piduguralla bypassing Nallapadu, reducing travel time by 96 km. The maximum permissible speed with which train services can be run on this new non-electrified railway line is at 80 km per hour.
The Nadikudi-Srikalahasti new railway line project is one of the important projects taken up by the zone in Andhra Pradesh, linking interior regions of Prakasham, Nellore, Guntur districts on the Indian Railways.
The rail line project was sanctioned in 2011-12 for a total distance of 309 km. The project is being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 2,289 crore.
It has been take up under 50 percent cost-sharing basis between the Indian Railways and the government of Andhra Pradesh, along with the provision of required land free of cost by the state government.
The new rail line project is being executed in five phases. Phase-I is 47 km long Piduguralla-Savalyapuram stretch; Phase-II is 27 km long Gundlakamma-Darsi stretch; Phase-III is 52 km long Darsi-Kanigiri stretch and 15 km long Venkatagiri-Alturipadu stretch; Phase-IV is 35 km long Kanigiri-Pamuru stretch and 43 km long Atluripadu-Venkatapuram stretch and Phase-V is 90 km long Pamuru-Obulayapalle-Venkatapuram stretch.
The project has been conceptualised as an alternate railway route to the existing Coastal Railway line between Vijayawada and Chennai.
Once completed, the new railway line project will serve as the shortest route between Guntur and Tirupati.