Hyderabad: In a big push for both passenger and freight movement in Telangana, the Centre has approved a fourth railway line on the busy Grand Trunk route between Kazipet and Balharshah. This is set to allow the railways to introduce more express services along with increased goods train operations.Covering close to 250 km, the project is estimated to cost around 3,000 crore. This stretch is among the busiest corridors on the Indian Railways network, carrying hundreds of trains that link the northern and southern regions of the country.The route passes through both Telangana and Maharashtra. The development would also align with the proposed fourth line between Secunderabad and Kazipet, creating a continuous four-track corridor stretching roughly 350-400 km.This section is already operating at near-full capacity, handling a mix of passenger and freight traffic. Numerous trains from cities such as Jammu, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Raipur, Lucknow and Delhi pass through the stretch on their way to southern hubs like Hyderabad, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Tirupati.At present, travel between Secunderabad and Balharshah takes about six hours, while premium services like Rajdhani Express complete it in nearly five hours. Once the fourth line becomes operational, travel time could drop to under four hours, as trains would be able to run smoothly at speeds of up to 130 kmph.Officials said that preliminary yard layouts have been cleared by the operations wing. Survey work is currently underway, and once it is finished, a detailed project report (DPR) would be submitted to the Railway Board for further approvals. The exact land requirements would be determined after the DPR is finalised.According to South Central Railway (SCR), the Kazipet-Balharshah fourth line is a key initiative for which the final location survey (FLS) has already received approval from the railway ministry. “This line will support industries such as cement and thermal power, while also boosting the movement of coal, cement and clinker. Improved rail infrastructure will strengthen both freight logistics and passenger services,” a senior SCR official said.3rd line on Grand Trunk route 90% complete:After nearly a decade of work, the third-line project on the Grand Trunk route between Balharshah and Gudur, spanning 742 km, is close to completion, with about 90% of the work already done. SCR officials expect to wrap up the remaining work in the next few months. To ease congestion on this vital corridor, third-line projects between Kazipet-Balharshah, Kazipet-Vijayawada and Vijayawada-Gudur were approved in 2015-16 with an investment of 7,274 crore.
