VISAKHAPATNAM: Visakhapatnam MP N. Janardhana Reddy has urged Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to extend the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express to Visakhapatnam to have quick rail connectivity to the country's capital from the fast growing city. In a memorandum submitted here on Saturday, Mr. Reddy also sought a Garib Rath express to Mumbai from Visakhapatnam via Hyderabad.

Train to Shirdi

He also asked for an intercity overnight express between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad so as to meet the competition from road transport operators and budget airlines.

To provide a direct train link to Shirdi from Visakhapatnam, a new train via Vijayawada and Secunderabad could be introduced with separate coaches for Kakinada.

The frequency of the present weekly Chennai-Visakhapatnam-Chennai express should be increased and the reservation quota for Visakhapatnam in the trains passing through the city should be increased to 40 per cent. "This will go a long way to assuage the feelings of people of coastal Andhra as well as restore the economic viability of trains which have been extended up to Bhubaneswar from Visakhapatnam."

He wanted halts at Anakapalle for Howrah-Tiruchi, Howrah-Yashwantpur, Bhubaneswar-Yashwantpur and Muzafarpur-Yashwantpur express trains and for all express trains at Duvvada. The MP also wanted Mr. Lalu Prasad to increase the speed of Dhanbad-Alleppy Express by four hours and Puri-Bilaspur-Tirupati express by three hours in each direction; and construct two more platforms in Visakhapatnam station in addition to the existing six.

These apart, the MP favoured an increase in the number of counters for advance reservation and general ticket booking at Waltair station. In addition, advance reservation counters should be opened at Ukkunagaram (VSP township), Pendurthy, Madhurawada, Bhimunipatnam and the airport.

Mr. Reddy, while referring to the fast growth of the city, stressed the need for introducing a cost- effective light rail transport system or mass transit system to tackle the mobility problem in future.

He reminded the Railway Minister that the Waltair division and Visakhapatnam railway station, which is used by some 50,000 passengers daily, earn a revenue of some Rs.1,900 crores per year, which is the highest in the country among the non-metro cities and called for priority in Railway Budget allocation to Visakhapatnam.

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