The South Central Railway is planning to provide direct rail connectivity from major terminals of Lingampalli/ Secunderabad to Umdanagar, which is the nearest rail head to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad. It is aimed at making available a convenient and cost-effective public transportation facility to the people for reaching the airport through the suburban rail corridor of twin cities.
In this connection, SCR General Manager P K Srivastava discussed this plan at length at a high level review meeting conducted at Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad on Tuesday. It is envisaged to run Airport Specials – direct DEMU train services from Lingampalli/ Secunderabad to Umdanagar to meet the demand of a specific section of passengers bound for airport, in addition to serving other local commuters. These services can provide direct rail travel up to Umdanagar, which is just around 6 kms away from the airport, at a very affordable price and with a lesser travel time when compared to other modes of public transport.
Srivastava directed the officials to prepare a detailed plan of running DEMU trains as Airport Specials, duly matching with the peak air traffic timings at RGIA, Shamshabad. To enable the passengers to travel from Umdanagar Station to the airport, feeder bus services need to be arranged in coordination with the Road Transport Authorities, he said. Necessary facilities such as wide circulating area, parking for road vehicles and waiting area etc. are planned to be developed at Umdanagar Station to facilitate smooth transshipment of passengers.
He stated that to begin with, a few DEMU train services will be planned as Airport Specials on an experimental basis after discussing with the State Government officials on this subject. (INN)