Kothagudam- Sathupalli railway line completed in a record time by Singareni and SCR
K M Dayashankar
A trial run on the new railway line was conducted on Saturday
The railway track was aimed to transport 100 lakh metric tonnes of coal per annum
HYDERABAD: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited has set a milestone by completing the 54.10 kilometres railway line from Kothagudem to Satthupalli in a record time of two and half years and commissioned the train (railway rake) service for the transportation of the coal on Saturday (May 28).
The railway line was completed at a cost of Rs 927.94 crore which includes Singareni share of Rs 618.55 crore and the South Central Railway share of Rs 309.39 crore. The railway line was aimed at the transportation of 100 lakh metric tonnes of coal per annum.
“We have successfully completed the 54.10 kilometres eco-friendly railway line in a record time and commissioned the trial run on the new railway by transporting the coal from Sathupalli”, said the SCCL chairman and MD N Sridhar.
He said that they would be transporting daily 30,000 metric tonnes of coal from Sathupalli JVR open cast project and Kistapur OCP. He said that they could successfully complete the railway line with the support of collectors of Khammam and Kothagudem, revenue officials, farmers and the land oustees.
The South Central Railway had successfully executed the railway line in the fastest manner and entered the record books, he stated. On Saturday, Singareni Director (operations) S Chandrashekhar formally launched the first railway rake from Sathupalli.
Earlier, the Singareni transported the coal through lorries from the Sathupalli to Kothagudem (Rudrapur) CHP to transport the coal in railway rakes to Palvancha power station and other states’ thermal power stations. In order to check pollution and save the petroleum products and damage to the roads, the Singareni had taken up the railway trackwork for smooth transportation of coal by using electric engines.
This railway line is having 102 bridges as it passes through Hyderabad to Vijayawada highway and Seetharam project at Sathupalli. The Singareni had also spent Rs 470 crore for a coal handling plant and the construction of 10.17 kilometres siding track. Singareni chairman N Sridhar congratulated the Singareni and SCR officials for the completion of the railway track in a record time.
