Guntur railway division

Guntur Railway Division

Rail Vikas Bhavan (Divisional Railway Manager Office) at Pattabhipuram of Guntur
Reporting mark	GNT
Locale	Andhra Pradesh, India
Dates of operation	1 April 2003–
Predecessor	Southern Railways
Track gauge	Broad
Previous gauge	Metre
Length	629.75 km (391.31 mi)
Headquarters	Guntur
Website	official website

Guntur Railway Division is one of the six divisions of the South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. It was created in 1997 for better administration in the respective railway zone and became fully functional on 1 April 2003 with P.N Shukla as its first divisional manager.^[1][2][3] The headquarters of the Guntur Division are located at Rail Vikas Bhavan, Pattabhipuram, Guntur. The current Divisional Railway Manager is Vijay Sharma, an officer of the IRSE cadre.^[4]

History

Chelama Tunnel, Guntur Division

The remains of the old Dorabavi Viaduct, Bogada Guntur Division

Railway track between Nandyal and Giddalur as viewed from Nallamala Ghat Road

Guntur Division]]

The Krishna Canal-Nandyal (KCC-NDL) stretch was a part of the important East-West coast link that connected Margao in Goa to Masulipatnam in the erstwhile Madras Province of British India. It was originally built to Metre Gauge by the Southern Mahratta Railway (later the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway-MSMR) during 1889–90.^[5] The track passed through the Nallamala Hills and as a result quite a few major engineering works were undertaken in the course of the railroad construction, the most impressive of them being the massive Dorabavi Viaduct^[6] and the Bogada Tunnel, both of them about 30 km from Nandyal. This section was converted to Broad Gauge during 1993–95 under Indian Railways' Project Unigauge. The gauge conversion was a difficult task owing to the difficult terrain. The old alignment between Gazulapalli and Diguvametta was abandoned and a new Bogada tunnel, about 1.6 km in length and a new Dorabavi Viaduct located at a much lower altitude were constructed at a huge expense. The railway passes through the historic Cumbum Tank starting from Cumbum railway station for a distance of about 7 km. It is one of the most picturesque valleys in Guntur-Nandyal section of South Central Railway.^[7]

The Guntur-Macherla (GNT-MCLA) section was opened in 1930 by the MSMR to serve the backward inner Telangana region. It too was originally metre gauge and was converted to Indian gauge in 1992–93.^[8] This section was used for the transport of limestone, quartz &cement, primarily from Piduguralla, popularly known as the Lime City.^[9]

The section from Guntur to the coastal town of Repalle was built to the broad gauge by the Madras and Southern Railway in 1916. This line connected to the East Coast main line at Tenali. The section from Tenali to Repalle was owned by Guntur District Board until 1964.

The foundation stone for the 152 km long Bibinagar-Nadikudi rail project that opened an alternative route to Secunderabad from Vijayawada and connected the interior of Telangana to Hyderabad was laid by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi on 7 April 1974. The project was finally finished in 1989 and the line commissioned a year later.^[10] Two major bridges to span the Krishna River and Musi are located in this section. It is used by many south/east bound trains in a bid to decongest the heavily used Warangal-Vijayawada line.

Jurisdiction

The division is spread over the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and covers the districts of Nalgonda, Guntur, Kurnool and Prakasam.^[3] Consisting entirely of Broad Gauge track, it was formed by merging the most far-flung and least productive stretches of Vijayawada, Secunderabad and Guntakal divisions of the South Central Railway. It has 72 major and minor stations.^[11]

Sections and branch lines

Jurisdictional route map of Guntur Railway Division

Tenali-Repalle branch line at Tenali and the signboard displaying the start of Vijayawada and the end of Guntur division

The division has a broad gauge route of 629.516 km (391.163 mi) and a running track of 660.992 km (410.721 mi).^[12]

The sections and branch lines route map breakup is as follows:

Source:^[3]

Categorization of stations

Guntur_Junction_railway_station_in_2007

Mangalagiri Railway Station

The list includes the stations under the jurisdiction of Guntur railway division and classified based on their respective category.

Source:^[13][3]

Performance and earnings

There are total 200 express, passenger and freight trains are operated everyday.^[14] In 2003, the Freight earnings were ₹93 crore (US$14 million).^[15] A steady increase saw the figure reach ₹272 crore (US$40 million) in 2007-08 before the ongoing worldwide recession brought it down to ₹237 crore (US$35 million) in 2008-09.^[16] There was a marginal increase in the number of passengers carried as well as the earnings therefrom. This has now risen substantially to ₹452 crore (US$67 million) in 2013–14. The division's total expenditure in 2012–13 was to the tune of ₹22 crore (US$3.3 million), primarily owing to its track renewal and passenger amenities works. Its Performance Efficiency Index was therefore pegged at 49.56%.

• Gross includes passenger, freight, sundry and other coaching revenues

The division was awarded the Signal and Telecommunications Shield of Excellence at the 54th, Railway Week Celebrations of the South Central Railway in April, 2009. The primary commodity transported by the division is cement, clinker, food grains, besides coal and fertilizer.^[17] Other commodities include cotton, chillies, limestone, paddy, tobacco and timber waste.^[14][16]

See also

• Divisions of Indian Railways

References

Coordinates: 16°18′04″N 80°26′36″E / 16.30111°N 80.44333°E / 16.30111; 80.44333

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guntur railway division.

Railways in Southern India
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Other lines / sections	Chennai Central–Bangalore City line Chennai Egmore–Thanjavur main line Chord Line Coimbatore–Shoranur railway line Gudivada–Bhimavaram section Gudivada–Machilipatnam branch line Guntakal–Chennai Egmore section Guntur–Macherla section Guntur–Repalle section Jolarpettai–Shoranur line Kazipet–Vijayawada section Kollam–Sengottai branch line Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram trunk line Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section Kothavalasa–Kirandul line Manamadurai–Virudhunagar line Mysore–Bangalore railway line Mysore–Chamarajanagar branch line Nagpur–Hyderabad line Nilambur–Nanjangud rail line (Proposed) Nilambur–Shoranur railway line Nilgiri Mountain Railway Palakkad–Pollachi line Pagidipalli–Nallapadu railway line Peralam–Karaikal line Sabari railway line (Proposed) Shimoga–Talaguppa railway Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section Shoranur–Mangalore section Solapur–Guntakal section Vijayawada–Chennai section Vijayawada–Guntur section Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada section Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal railway line Guntakal–Vasco da Gama section Pune–Miraj–Londa line Bangalore–Arsikere–Hubli line Pamban–Dhanushkodi branch line (Defunct)
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Manufacturing units / workshops / sheds	Integral Coach Factory Rail Wheel Factory Golden Rock Railway Workshop Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock Kollam MEMU Shed
Railway zones	South Central Railway Southern Railway South Western Railway
Railway companies	Konkan Railway Corporation Kerala Monorail Corporation East Coast State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
Agitations and accidents	1928 South Indian railway strike 1932 Madras and Southern Mahratta railway strike 1974 railway strike in India 1988 Kollam Peruman train accident Nellore train fire
See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) Transport in Guntur Madras Time Thiruvananthapuram–Mangalore high-speed passenger corridor Annual passenger earnings details of railway stations in Kerala
Railways in India portal

South Central Railway zone
Administration	Indian Railways Ministry of Railways Railway Board
History	Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways History of rail transport in India Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
Divisions	Guntur Nanded Vijayawada Hyderabad Secunderabad Guntakal
Sections / Branch lines	Duvvada–Vijayawada section Bhimavaram–Narasapuram branch line Gudivada–Machilipatnam branch line Gudur–Renigunta section Krishna Canal–Guntur section Nallapadu–Nandyal section Samalkot–Kakinada Port branch line Tenali–Repalle branch line Vijayawada–Gudur section Vijayawada–Nidadavolu loop line Nandyal-Yerranguntla section
Major stations	Eluru Guntakal Junction Guntur Junction Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Kazipet Junction Hazur Sahib Nanded Nellore Rajahmundry Samalkot Secunderabad Junction Vijayawada Junction Tirupati
Named trains	Andhra Pradesh Express Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express Ajanta Express Charminar Express Dakshin Express Devagiri Express Falaknuma Express Godavari Express Golconda Express Goutami Express Hussainsagar Express Krishna Express Manikarnika Express Narayanadri Express Pinakini Express Ratnachal Express Sabari Express Sachkhand Express Satavahana Express Secunderabad Rajdhani Express Visakhapatnam – Secunderabad Garib Rath Express Tirumala Express Venkatadri Express Machilipatnam Express
Indian rail subsidiaries	Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Rail Land Development Authority Central Organisation for Railway Electrification
Institutes	Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications
Transits	Hyderabad MMTS Hyderabad Metro Rail
See also	Rail transport in India