South Coast Railway: Fulfilling Andhra Pradesh’s Demand, Government Carves Out New Railway Zone In Vishakhapatnam

Railways Minister, Piyush Goyal announced on 27 February (Wednesday) that Ministry of Railways will be making a new zone in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh named South Coast Railway.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) raised a demand for the creation of a new railway zone in Visakhapatnam, as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 as reported by Indian Express.

The existing divisions which include Guntakal, Guntur and Vijaywada and Waltair division, shall be split into two and will have the headquarter at South Coast Railway. Furthermore, Goyal said that a part of the Waltair division will be converted into a new division with its headquarter at Rayagada, Odisha.

As per a report which was prepared by senior officers of the Railway Board, there are 51 demands for 12 new zones and 69 demands for 35 additional divisions pending. The report also stated that demand for a new zone to benefit a particular state “vitiates the pan-national character of the Indian Railways,” adding that the move is against the idea of the “forefathers of the nation”, who unified 42 small railways of the princely states into six zones in the 1950s.