Title - Halt for Garibrath at Duvvada sought

The halt at Duvvada for the Visakhapatnam – Secunderabad Garibrath Express, which was announced by Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy on December 15, 2012 has not been provided by the Railways till date.Gajuwaka MLA Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah wrote to Mr. Surya Prakash Reddy on Saturday reminding him of his promise and the seeking his intervention in solving the travails of over 9 lakh passengers from the industrial belt, who are using the Duvvada Railway Station.In the absence of a halt to the originating train, hundreds of passengers were forced to travel to either Visakhapatnam or Anakapalle, which are about 30 km away to catch the train. Apart from the prohibitive cost and wastage of precious time and fuel for travelling by autorickshaw or taxi, it was resulting in choking of the main roads and creating traffic congestions.Mr. Venkataramaiah noted that normally in all major cities trains would stop at all the local stations enabling the passengers to board them at their nearest local station. The provision of halts would also generate indirect employment.

In a separate statement, Duvvada Railway User’s Association secretary K. Eswar also sought immediate provision of a halt for the benefit of passengers.