South Central Railway (SCR) has announced that some of the existing station halts in Andhra Pradesh for special train services have been removed as per the request of the State government from June 4.
Hence, passengers already having booked reservation tickets to or from the stations for which halts have been removed are entitled for a full refund, an official spokesman informed. However, intra-state train travel for the above special train services within AP where both the boarding station and de-boarding stations fall within is now permitted with immediate effect.
It means 02704/02703 Secunderabad to Howrah Falaknuma Express will halt only at Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam Road, in the reverse direction also. 07202 Secunderabad to Guntur Golconda Express will halt only at Vijayawada whereas in the reverse direction 07201 will halt at Mangalagiri and Vijayawada.
02793/02794 Tirupati-Nizamabad Rayalaseema Express will halt only at Kadapa, Adoni, Manthralayam Road and Guntakal, same is the case in the reverse direction. 02728/02727 Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam Godavari Express will have halts only at Vijayawada, Eluru, Rajahmundry and Anakapalle, same is the case in the reverse direction.
01019/01020 Mumbai to Bhubaneshwar Konark Express will halt at Vijayawada, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagram and Srikakulam Road. 02805/02806 Visakhapatnam to New Delhi AP Express will halt at Rajahmundry, Eluru & Vijayawada, said an official spokesman in a press release.
Meanwhile, noting the congregation of passengers at the Secunderabad station many hours before the trains depart, the railway authorities have appealed to people not to come much before the scheduled time as it is leading to congestion. Special trains are starting from the Nampally station also and so passengers can board from get both stations. Additional entry/exits as well as thermal screening counters are being installed as per demand.
In Secunderabad station, trains start or stop at platforms 1 or the main entrance and ‘10’ on the Bhoiguda side only for now. Other platforms are likely to be used soon. Passengers can make use of the foot over bridge inside Platform no.1 to reach others.