Rail budget: AP to demand introduction of 35 new trains

Andhra Pradesh will press for introduction of 35 new trains, including 17 Mail/Express, eight passenger and 10 Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS), in the 2011-12 Union Railway Budget. Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will meet Union Railway minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi on January 21 and submit the state's proposals for new trains, sources in the chief minister's office (CMO) here said.

Kiran Kumar held a high-level meeting with state Transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, South Central Railway general manager M S Jayanth and other top officials here on Wednesday and discussed the pending railway projects related to Andhra Pradesh.
Though the Planning Commission cleared the second phase expansion of MMTS in Hyderabad-Secunderabad twin cities, the Railway Board has not yet given its nod to the project that has become highly popular and essential, the sources said.
"MMTS is a popular capacity-building project with a high rate of return (12%). The state government has agreed to bear two-third of the project cost," they said.
There was also demand for increasing the number of diesel and electrical multiple unit (DEMU\MEMU) trains in suburban and inter-city areas particularly in Rayalaseema and Telangana regions.
"The SCR is not getting adequate rakes (trains) because of which increasing the number of DEMU\MEMU services has not become possible. We need at least five DEMU\MEMUs in Rayalaseema and Telangana," the sources added.