Rail users urge SCR to develop North Lalaguda land into coaching complex

Rail users and local residents in North Lalaguda, Hyderabad, have urged the South Central Railway (SCR) to transform vast stretches of underutilised railway land in the area into a modern coaching complex. The proposed facility would be used for stabling, watering, cleaning, and maintaining passenger coaches to address the expanding operational needs of the Hyderabad Division.

Currently, the Hyderabad Division operates only one coaching terminal at Kacheguda railway station, which is limited to five platforms. In contrast, the Secunderabad Division has four coaching terminals within the city, located at Secunderabad Junction, Hyderabad Deccan, Lingampalli, and Charlapalli, providing greater operational flexibility.

Due to the lack of adequate stabling space at Kacheguda, several trains are currently moved to distant stations such as Shadnagar, Umdanagar, Nagulapalli, and Medchal for stabling. These locations are situated 30 to 60 kilometres away. This setup leads to unnecessary empty coaching movements, higher fuel and energy consumption, increased operating costs, and avoidable congestion on busy railway routes.

The targeted land in North Lalaguda currently contains old railway quarters constructed during the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway era. These structures are now dilapidated, leaving the area vulnerable to encroachment and anti-social activities.

A resident of nearby Mirjalguda stated that the old quarters have been deteriorating year after year, and developing the land into a proper coaching yard would improve the area and bring better security.

The Train Travellers Association has suggested that the vacant railway land extending from Sri Ram Mandir towards Mirjalguda be developed into this modern coaching yard. Noor Ahmed Ali, General Secretary of the association, stated that trains could then be conveniently shunted to Kacheguda or Malkajgiri as required, substantially improving operational efficiency.

The association also recommended providing two or three additional passenger platforms at Malkajgiri to enhance passenger convenience and strengthen the terminal capacity of the Hyderabad Division. Ali added that developing North Lalaguda as a comprehensive coaching complex would eliminate the need to search for costly new land at distant locations for future terminal development.