Kazipet-Chennai Semi High speed corridor to be developed by Germany

Kazipet, OCT 11: In a bid to reduce travel time of trains between destinations and to increase the speed of trains the Indian government is currently focusing on Semi High-Speed Railways.Recently a Joint Declaration of Intent was signed between the Ministry of Railways and Germany on Tuesday at Rail Bhavan.

The declaration reads that a feasibility study would be carried out on the Chennai-Kazipet corridor of Indian Railways by German Railways for increasing the speed of passenger trains to 200 Kmph on a 50:50 percent cost-sharing basis.

Sources said that the project would be completed in 3 phases

Phase 1: Definition of three demand-based Upgrade scenarios for the corridor

Phase 2: Selection of the preferred Upgrade scenario for SHS on the corridor, based on analysis of respective operations and economic-financial impact.



Phase 3: For preferred scenario, Reference design and technical Tender document

Route: Chennai-Gudur Jn-Nellore-Tenali Jn-Vijayawada Jn-Warangal-Kazipet Jn Total length of the corridor – 643 km (135 km in Southern Railway and 508 km in South Central Railway) and the entire corridor is electrified.

Currently, there is only one train from Kazipet to Chennai Charminar Superfast express which takes 11 hours 20 minutes with 13 stoppages at an average speed of 57 kmph.

Sources said that with the upgradation of the network to High speed the travel distance will be reduced to 3-5 hrs and both Kazipet and Chennai railway stations would be upgraded.