Vijayawada–Gudur section

The Vijayawada–Gudur section is a railway line connecting Vijayawada in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Gudur. The main line is part of the Howrah–Chennai and New Delhi–Chennai main lines.

Vijayawada–Gudur section
Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express is an important train on the Vijayawada–Gudur section
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
Termini	Vijayawada Gudur
Service
Operator(s)	South Coast Railway, Southern Railway
History
Opened	1899
Technical
Track length	455 km (283 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	Yes
Operating speed	up to 130 km/h (81 mph)
Route map km to Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada section to Vijayawada–Machilipatnam branch line to Kazipet–Vijayawada section 0 / 31 Vijayawada Junction Krishna River 5 / 26 Krishna Canal 12 Mangalagiri 23 Namburu 25 Pedakakni Halt 29 Resauli 30 New Guntur NH 5 Guntur Junction DRM Halt Nallapadu to Pagidipalli–Nallapadu section to Guntakal Junction 41 Vejendla 47 Sangam Jagarlamudi 51 Angalakuduru NH 5 23 Kolanukonda 19 Pedavadlapudi 16 Chiluvur 10 Duggirala 6 Kolakaluru 55 / 0 Tenali 3 Chinnaravuru 10 Zampani 14 Vemuru 20 Penumarru 23 Bhattiprolu 28 Pallikona 34 Repalle 70 Modukuru 77 Nidobrolu 82 Machavaram 89 Appikatla Nalamanda 98 Bapatla 106 Stuartpuram 109 Ipurupalem 113 Chirala 116 Jandrapeta 121 Vetapalemu Gundalkamma River 124 Kota Pandilla Palli 128 Kadavkunduru 133 Chinna Ganjam 140 Uppugunduru 144 Reparla Halt 147 Ammanabrolu 153 Karavadi 162 Ongole 172 Surareddipalem Muse River 181 Tanguturu Pateru River 190 Singarayakonda 200 Ulavapadu Ramayapatnam Port 214 Tettu 228 Kavali 240 Sri Venkateswarapalem 245 Bitragunta NH 5 251 Alluru Road 263 Talamanchi 267 Kodavaluru NH 5 275 Padugupadu Penner River 279 Nellore 281 Nellore South 286 Vedayapalem NH 5 295 Venkatachalam Krishnapatnam Port / To Nadikudi–Srikalahasti section NH 5 Kommalapudi 308 Manubolu 317 / 0 Gudur Junction to Gudur–Renigunta section to Gudur–Chennai section Source:Google maps, Indiarailinfo/Vijayawada-Chennai Jan Shatabdi, Delta Fast Passenger

Geography

The Vijayawada–Gudur line runs along the Coromandel Coast, lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The main line crosses the Krishna immediately after its departure from Vijayawada.

Railway zone jurisdiction

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

History

The Southern Mahratta Railway Company linked Goa with Guntakal with a metre-gauge line and also linked Vijayawada with Mormugao in 1890. During the period 1893 to 1896, 1,287 km (800 mi) of the East Coast State Railway, from Vijayawada to Cuttack 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 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 South Indian Railway Company and Mysore State Railway were merged to form Southern Railway. Subsequently, Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway 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 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 planned to be upgraded into a "Group A" line which will enable it to take speeds up to 160 km/h. On the branch lines the speed limit is 100 km/h.

Passenger movement

Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central railway station, Vijayawada and Nellore, on the main line, and Tirupati Main and Vellore Katpadi, on branch lines, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

External links

• Trains at Vijayawada
• Trains at Gudur Central