Elevation 14 m (46 ft) Opened 1928 Platforms in use 1 (at ground level) | Parking Not required Rebuilt 2004 | |
 | ||
Line(s) Kakinada-Kotipally branch line Tracks Broad gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Structure type Standard (on ground station) Similar Badampudi railway station, Pedavadlapudi railway station, Denduluru railway station, Sitampet railway station, Pedana railway station | ||
Kotipalli railway station view
Kotipalli railway station, located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, serves Kotipalli in East Godavari district.
Contents
Geography
Kotipalli railway station is located in the fringe areas of Konaseema region on the Godavari delta.
History
The Kakinada-Kotipalli branch line was first laid in 1928, but was removed in 1940 with the onset of the World War II. The British rulers, then ruling in India, were facing shortage of steel and took away the tracks for use somewhere else. The 45 km (28 mi) long line was relaid at a cost of Rs. 670 million (670 million). It was formally opened in November 2004. However, that was only a partly finished project.
The balance of the project
The total project envisaged construction of two lines – the first from Kakinada to Kotipalli, and the second from Kotipally to Narsapur via Amalapuram. The 2001-02 estimates for the Kotipalli-Narsapur line was Rs. 7.10 billion (7,100 million). The estimates are high because three bridges need to be constructed across three distributaries of the Godavari - first, a 5 km long bridge across the Gautami between Kotipalli and Mukteswaram, second, a bridge across Vainateya, between Bodasakurru and Pasarlapudi, and third, across the Vasista between Narsapur and Sakinetipally. In the context of limited resources for funding projects in India, it is a tall order, and funds are coming only in trickles, as for example Rs. 20 million (20million) spent in acquiring 110 acres of land. Obviously, such a project had high-profile backers such as G. M. C. Balayogi who was Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1998-2002, and S.P.B.K. Satyanarayana Rao, former union minister and MP from Rajahmundry.