Piyush Goyal, the Railway Minister of India, on the 27th of February, announced, Andhra Pradesh will get a new railway zone in Visakhapatnam.
The Indian Railways will soon start the construction of a new railway zone, named ‘South Coast Railway’ in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The new South Coast Railway will include the present divisions of Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada, whereas the Waltair division will be a part of the East Coast Railway.
The Waltair division will be bifurcated into two, one part will be merged with the Vijayawada division and the other portion, which belongs to the East Coast Railway, will have its headquarters at Rayagada, Odisha.
The Ministry of Railway said, “One part of the Waltair division will be incorporated in the new zone and will be merged with the neighboring Vijayawada division.”
The Andhra Pradesh Government was demanding a separate South Coast Railway since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Even in 2018, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) proposed to the Indian Railways Ministry to approve the provision of a separate South Coast Railway, which was turned down, citing structural failures as the reason.
However, this year, the Indian Railway Ministry examined the proposal for the new railway zone in detail and discussed the matter with a few stakeholders, following which they approved the construction.
The total cost of constructing the new railway zone in the State is expected to be Rs. 205 crores.
