Naidu seeks special trains for agri, aqua transport

Visakhapatnam: Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu requested the railway department for special container reefer trains to transport agricultural, horticultural and aqua products from Andhra Pradesh. He urged increased rail connectivity to develop AP as a logistics hub.He visited the temporarily set-up South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone office in Visakhapatnam with Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. They conducted a review with senior officials of the South Central (SCR), East Coast (ECoR) and SCoR zones. The CM and the railway minister discussed the activities of the new railway zone and the progress of railway projects in AP. Naidu suggested merging some railway sections and making administrative changes in the newly established SCoR zone. He stated that integrating the Araku-Kothavalasa section and Kurnool-Dhone into the new zone would promote development in those areas.Naidu explained that the lack of rail route density is hindering AP's goal to become a logistics hub. He requested the establishment of new railway routes connecting various regions in Rayalaseema. He also urged for increased connectivity to existing ports and the newly constructed Mulapeta, Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam ports. He mentioned connecting the hinterland by rail to transport cargo from regions like Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh and Ballari and Bengaluru in Karnataka to these ports.Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that special priority would be given to connecting ports in AP. He personally explained to the CM the ongoing railway projects, proposed new routes and works in AP.