Guntakal–Renigunta section connects and in the Indian state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It is administered under Guntakal railway division of South Central Railway zone. It has a total route length of .

History

The first train service in southern India and the third in India was operated by

Madras Railway The Madras Railway (full name Madras Railway Company) played a pioneering role in developing railways in southern India and was merged in 1908 with Southern Mahratta Railway to form Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. The Madras Railway was ...

from / Veyasarapady to Wallajah Road (Arcot) in 1856. Madras Railway extended its trunk route to Beypur / Kadalundi (near Calicut) and initiated work on a north-western branch out of Arakkonam in 1861. The branch line reached Renigunta in 1862. The branch line out of Arakkonam reached in 1871, where it connected to the

Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...

line from Mumbai.

Railway reorganization

In the early 1950s legislation was passed authorizing the central government to take over independent railway systems that were there. On 14 April 1951 the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company and Mysore State Railway were merged to form Southern Railway. Subsequently,

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR) was a railway company operating in India from 1879 to 1950. It was owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad State, and its full name was ''His Exalted Highness, The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway''. The company ...

was also merged into Southern Railway. On 2 October 1966, the Secunderabad, Solapur, Hubli and Vijayawada Divisions, covering the former territories of Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway and certain portions of Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway were separated from Southern Railway to form the South Central Railway. In 1977, Guntakal division of Southern Railway was transferred to South Central Railway and the Solapur division transferred to Central Railway. Amongst the seven new zones created in 2003 was South Western Railway, which was carved out of Southern Railway.

Electrification

Electrification of the 308 km long Renigunta–Guntakal section was announced in 2003 at a cost of Rs. 168 crore. The Renigunta–Nandalur sector electrification was completed in 2006. The Nandalur-Guntakal sector was electrified by 2013.

Connectivity

Obulavaripalli in this line connects the newly constructing Krishnapatnam–Obulavaripalle railway line.

Speed limit

As of 2022, doubling and electrification of the Renigunta–Guntakal section has been completed and commissioned with 130 KM Max. Permissible Speed.

Sheds and workshops

Diesel Loco Shed, Guntakal was started as a metre-gauge shed but after gauge conversions in Guntakal and Hubli divisions a broad-gauge shed was opened in 1995. It houses

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

, WDM-3A, WDM-3D and WDG-3A locos. There is a routine overhaul depot for wagon maintenance at Raichur and a coaching maintenance depot at Guntakal.

Diesel Loco Shed, Gooty Diesel Loco Shed, Gooty is an engine shed located in Gooty, Andhra Pradesh in India. It falls under the jurisdiction of Guntakal railway division of South Coast Railway zone. History It is one of the oldest loco sheds, started by the british ...

has one of the largest sheds with 175+ locos that include WDG-3A, WDM-3A, WDM-3D, WDG-4, WDP-4 diesel locos. It also handles routine maintenance for WDG-4 locos. It earlier used to be broad-gauge steam loco shed. Renigunta has an electric trip shed.

References

External links

Trains at GuntakalTrains at Renigunta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guntakal - Renigunta section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh * * 1871 establishments in India Transport in Guntakal Transport in Tirupati