Amaravati/Rayagada: Centre has issued a gazette notification establishing the South Coast Railway Zone, with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters. The new railway zone, which will come into effect from June 1, 2026, comprises Guntakal, Guntur, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam divisions.
The Ministry of Railways included some of the existing area under South Central Railway and East Coast Railway into the new zone.
It can be mentioned here that Rayagada will be a new division under the East Coast Railway (ECoR).
Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada are existing divisions of South Central Railway and they have been re-organsied and made part of the new railway zone.
The truncated Waltair division of East Coast Railway has been renamed as Visakhapatnam division and re-organised.
The new railway zone for Andhra Pradesh was promised at the time of the state’s bifurcation in 2014.
The creation of South Coast Railway Zone headquartered in Visakhapatnam was originally announced by the Centre in 2019.
However, work on the administrative aspects of the new zone was expedited after the N Chandrababu Naidu-led NDA government assumed office in the state in 2024.
In January 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of the South Coast Railway zonal headquarters in Visakhapatnam.
As per the notification, East Coast Railway, which has its headquarters at Bhubaneswar, will comprise existing Sambalpur division, re-organised Khurda Road division and the new division of Rayagada.
Existing Hyderabad and Nanded divisions and re-organised Secunderabad division will come under the jurisdiction of South Central Railway.
Itchpuram–Palasa railway line which until recently fell under the Khurda Road division has been transferred to the Visakhapatnam division. Similarly, the Raichur–Wadi section has been transferred from the Guntakal Division to the Secunderabad Division.
The Pagidipalli–Vishnupuram line, previously part of the Guntur Division, will now come under Secunderabad division. The Kondapalli–Motumari line, located within the Secunderabad division, has been shifted to the Vijayawada division.
Singapore Road–Vizianagaram section has been designated as the new boundary between the Rayagada and Visakhapatnam divisions.
While participating in groundbreaking ceremony for the Google AI Data Centre in Visakhapatnam on the April 28, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced that the new railway zone will be notified with effect from June 1.
The same day, Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, reviewed the operations of the South Coast Railway Zone.
They visited the South Coast Railway Zone office, which has been temporarily established at the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) office.
The Chief Minister had appealed to the railway minister to implement certain administrative changes, specifically by integrating additional sections into the newly-established South Coast Railway Zone.
IANS
