South Central Railway (SCR) has successfully completed the 203-km Kazipet-Balharshah third line along with electrification at a cost of about Rs 3,000 crore.
On July 22, 2026, the final stretch of tripling and electrification between Asifabad – Sirpur Kaghaznagar for 11 Kms along with an important bridge over river Bibra was completed, marking an end to the project, SCR said in a statement.
The Kazipet – Balharshah section is a vital rail link connecting the Northern and Southern regions of the country. Besides, it also connects several coal and cement sidings situated along the route.
To decongest this section, tripling works between Raghavapuram – Mandamarri, a distance of 33 Kms was completed in 2016. To further ease traffic, tripling and electrification works on the remaining stretch of Kazipet – Balharshah section, for a distance of 203 Kms (Telangana-159 Kms and Maharashtra-44 Kms) was sanctioned in the year 2015-16.
Tripling and electrification of the entire stretch has been completed and commissioned except for a small stretch near Balharshah station falling under Central Railway jurisdiction. This involves connecting the newly laid third line to the Balharshah yard, works for which, are in progress.
Benefits
This project will facilitate seamless movement of traffic across the grand trunk route connecting northern and southern parts of the country; improve transportation of coal, cement and raw materials to thermal power plants and factories while enabling an increase passenger train services.
