The Railway budget introduced by Sadananda Gowda ended up as a major disappointment for both the Telugu speaking states. The first railway budget in NDA government allotted no new projects to the two states but only promised to complete the existing 29 pending projects. Andhra Pradesh has got two trains and Telangana has got three new trains which also includes 2 semi-bullet trains and one ac premium train.
The other major allocation which will benefit Andhra Pradesh is linking of all the ports under a project ‘Sagaramala’ with public private partnership. There is no respite to the long standing demand of making Waltair division as Special Railway Zone. Insiders say the Center has yielded to the pressure of BJD government in Orissa as it requires the party’s support in Rajya Sabha. And all the several demands put up by both the states like Coach factory etc were also ignored.
Trains allotted to AP and Telangana:
AP Express: Vijaywada – New Delhi
Weekly Express: Vishakapatnam – Chennai
Semi-Bullet Train: Hyderabad – Chennai
Premium AC Train: Secunderabad – Nizamuddin
Semi-Bullet Train: Nagpur – Secunderabad
