The straight route from Katpadi to Bangarpet is more difficult than the current one. The straight route has to go through the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary in AP. This region is very hilly and heavily forested and is home to the only wild elephant population in AP. Any route through this portion cannot be made to even normal speeds without a lot of tunnels and extensive ghat works, which would make the project very, very expensive. The present route through Kuppam goes through a pass between the hills that border the deccan plateau and as such is the most economical one without the need for any tunneling or terrain modification. An FEDL in this new section would be prohibitively costly and the usual hill maintenance regimes mean that, even speeds on this section would be sub-standard.
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more... The KPD-BWT direct route is also not very attractive as it does not pass through any significant towns. JTJ will be preferred for freights due to the large marshalling yards there from where SR runs a lot of Python rakes to reduce freight congestion. The 70km line will pretty much only be useful to the non-stop Shatabdi's between the two cities as all the other trains have considerable patronage from Kuppam/JTJ/Ambur and Vaniyambadi.
please wait...Translate to EnglishThe shortcut from Katpadi to Bangarpet is way harder than the current one. The shortcut goes through the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary in AP. The area is super hilly and packed with trees, being the only spot for wild elephants in AP. Any road here needs tons of tunnels and ghat works, which would cost a fortune. The current road through Kuppam is cheaper, going through a pass between hills bordering the Deccan plateau. Building roads here would be crazy expensive and maintenance on the hills means speeds would be pretty low. The direct KPD-BWT route isn't great either as it misses important towns. JTJ is better for heavy loads due to its big yards where SR sends lots of trains to clear up freight traffic. The 70km line would only benefit the express trains between the cities, as other trains pick up passengers from Kuppam, JTJ, Ambur, and Vaniyambadi.