Chief minister Rosaiah flags off Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) Duronto.
Union minister of state for railways KH Muniyappa on Sunday urged state governments to come forward for sharing railway project costs in their respective states.
“Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had agreed to contribute 50 per cent to the cost of new lines and gauge conversion projects and I request all the states to share 50 per cent of costs for speedy completion of projects,” he said.
The minister was speaking after participating in a function, which marked the flagging off of the Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) Duronto Express by chief minister K Rosaiah.
The new train, a bi-weekly non-stop service from Secunderabad, is the first Duronto express from the South Central Railway. Another Duronto train from Secunderabad to Mumbai was also announced in the railway Budget last month.
Muniyappa said of the 36 ongoing projects in Andhra Pradesh, 19 are expected to be completed by the end of the next financial year. “The outlay for the 36 new projects, which include six gauge conversion, 11 doubling and four electrification projects, is to the tune of Rs 744 crore,” he said, adding all the remaining projects would be completed within the next four years.
In the recent railway Budget, the state received an allocation of Rs 1,869 crore, as compared with Rs 780 crore last year, an increase of 139.61 per cent, Muniyappa said.