SCR proposes ₹2,867-crore coaching depots at Jukal and Dabilpur; drops proposal to build railway terminal in Shamshabad

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South Central Railway (SCR) plans to establish two major coaching depots with integrated maintenance facilities at Jukal and Dabilpur on the outskirts of Hyderabad at an estimated cost of ₹2,866.72 crore. But, it has dropped a proposal to build a new railway terminal at Shamshabad , which was part of the MMTS Phase-II project, following the State government’s ‘advice’.

Interestingly, Jukal station is located only a few kilometres from Shamshabad, where the new coaching depot is being proposed at an estimated cost of ₹1,459.66 crore, while the second depot at Dabilpur near Medchal is likely to cost ₹1,407.06 crore. SCR General Manager Sanjay Kumar Srivastava informed Telangana MPs during a meeting at Rail Nilayam last week that proposals for both mega coaching depots had been forwarded to the Railway Board (RB) for approval.

The Telangana government has been requested to allot 300 acres at Jukal and 250 acres at Dabilpur for the proposed depots. In addition, SCR has sought 325 acres at Nagulapalli for a new passenger terminal near Shankarpalli and another 250 acres for expansion of the existing Cherlapalli terminal. The Final Location Survey (FLS) for the Nagulapalli project estimated to cost ₹13.95 crore has been put up for RB’s approval.

On MMTS expansion, SCR expressed its inability to extend services from Lingampally to Nagulapalli, from Telapur to Vikarabad/Shankarpalli, and from Umdanagar to Shadnagar as these routes fall outside the suburban limits identified by the State government for MMTS operations.

Regarding the proposed operation of MMTS services between Lingampally and ICRISAT, railway authorities cited the single-line section and absence of crossing facilities at Telapur as major constraints. They, however, assured that doubling of the Telapur-Ramachandrapuram line would be proposed to facilitate additional services in the future.

At the same time, officials indicated that requests from the Telangana government, along with a willingness to share project costs, could lead to a reconsideration of MMTS expansion proposals. This assurance was conveyed to Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, Medak MP M. Raghunandan Rao and Mahabubnagar MP D.K. Aruna.

Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender was informed that RB approval had been sought for new suburban railway halt stations at Loyola, between Bhudevinagar and Suchitra Centre, and at Anandbagh, between Neredmet and Cherlapalli.

The General Manager also said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the first phase of the proposed Regional Ring Rail project, covering 222.53 km at an estimated cost of ₹11,517.51 crore, is under consideration. The alignment for the second phase, spanning 188.21 km, is yet to be finalised by the State government, after which survey work will be taken up.

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