The Vijayawada–Gudur section is a railway line connecting 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 ...

and . The main line is part of the Howrah–Chennai and

New Delhi–Chennai main line The New Delhi–Chennai main line is a railway line connecting Chennai and Delhi cutting across southern part of the Eastern Coastal Plains of India, the Eastern Ghats, the Deccan Plateau and the Yamuna valley. It covers a distance of across ...

Geography

The Vijayawada–Gudur line runs along the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

, lying between the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

and the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

. The main line crosses the

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

immediately after its departure from Vijayawada.

Railway zone jurisdiction

The track from Vijayawada to Gudur is under the administrative jurisdiction of South Coast Railway

History

The Southern Mahratta Railway Company linked

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

with

Guntakal Guntakal is a City in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Guntakal mandal and Guntakal revenue division.It is also the headquarters of the Guntakal Railway Division in South Central Railway. Ge ...

with a metre-gauge line and also linked

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

with

Mormugao Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 191 ...

in 1890. During the period 1893 to 1896, of the East Coast State Railway, from

to was built and opened to traffic, and construction of the Vijayawada–Gudur link in 1899 enabled the through running of trains along the eastern coast of India. The southern part of the East Coast State Railway (from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over 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 ...

in 1901. The track doubled during the period from the 1st April to the 31st October, Bezwada-Gudur section 1958 is 7.5 Mils. Total mileage under construction is about 46 miles of which 5 miles i«s readv for opening and another 8 miles of permanent wav have been linked. The Section is beaingdoubling part of a mileage aggregating 101 By April 1959 about 40 miles is ex-pected to be completed As the earth-work and bridging involved is heavy, no definite date for completion of the balance can yet be given but it t« expected that the full 101 miles will br readv by 31 March 1961.

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 Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...

, the

South Indian Railway Company The South Indian Railway Company operated a number of gauge lines in South India from 1874 to 1951. History The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established with its headquarters in England in 1853. The Carnatic Railway Company was ...

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 compan ...

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 The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

. 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 2010 was South Western Railway, which was carved out of Southern Railway.

Electrification

Howrah–Chennai Mail was the first train in South Eastern Railway to be hauled by a diesel engine ( WDM-1) in 1965. The Vijayawada–Gudur–Chennai section was completely electrified by 1980. The Howrah–Chennai route was completely electrified by 2005. Section-wise electrification was as follows: Vijayawada–Chirala 1979–80; Chirala–Ongole, Ongole–Ulavapadu, Ulavapadu–Bitragunta, Bitragunta–Pagudupadu, Gudur–Venkatagiri, Venkatagiri–Renigunta, and Renigunta–Tirupati 1983–85; Krishna Canal–Guntur, Krishna Canal–Tenali and Guntur–Tenali 1987–89; Arakkonam–Renigunta 1982–85.

Speed limits

The New Delhi to Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station line (Grand Trunk route), of which the Vijayawada–Gudur section is a part, is classified as a "Group A" line which can take speeds up to 160 km/h. On the branch lines the speed limit is 100 km/hr.

Passenger movement

Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central railway station Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...

and , on the main line, and and Vellore Katpadi, on branch lines, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

References

External links

Trains at VijayawadaTrains at Gudur Central
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vijayawada-Gudur section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Tamil Nadu *