4 months ago
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Even arsenic the formation validation trial was successfully conducted astatine the greenfield planetary airdrome astatine Bhogapuram recently, concerns are being raised implicit the logistical and fiscal load the displacement whitethorn enforce connected home aerial travellers to shorter routes specified arsenic Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad.
BJP MLA (Visakhapatnam North) P. Vishnu Kumar Raju has sought the urgent involution of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to present caller and further Vande Bharat overnight trains from Visakhapatnam to the cardinal destinations, including Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Tirupati.
In a missive addressed to the Railway Minister, Mr. Raju highlighted that the projected shifting of formation operations from the existing metropolis airdrome to Bhogapuram—slated for June oregon July 2026—would importantly summation question clip for the city’s 2.5 lakh monthly aerial passengers.
The MLA said that the travel from Visakhapatnam to the caller airdrome successful Vizianagaram territory takes astir 2 hours. When coupled with the mandatory two-hour pre-departure check-in, the full door-to-door question clip for short-haul sectors specified arsenic Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada would escalate to six hours.
“Apart from the nonaccomplishment of time, determination volition besides beryllium a fiscal burden. Taxi fares to Bhogapuram are expected to scope betwixt ₹2,500 and ₹4,000, which successful galore cases transcend the existent airfare to destinations specified arsenic Vijayawada,” Mr. Raju noted, portion arguing that enhancing Vande Bharat services could prevention betwixt ₹600 crore and ₹900 crore successful yearly substance costs by reducing the dependency connected backstage cabs to the distant airport.
The MLA emphasised that with the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) targeting a $130 cardinal GDP and 20 cardinal caller jobs by 2032, robust and affordable obstruction connectivity is essential.
Terming Vande Bharat trains arsenic a ‘logical, economical, and passenger-friendly alternative’, Mr. Raju requested the Ministry to prioritise the routes Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada, citing a competitory 4.5-hour question time, and the instauration of overnight oregon further services to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
“Transitioning aerial travellers to high-speed obstruction for determination sectors is the request of the hr to forestall Visakhapatnam from becoming an costly and time-consuming question hub. So, the Railway Minister volition hopefully see our pleas,” the MLA said.
