Centre notifies South Coast Railway Zone at Vizag; Operations from June 1
By G.Janardhana Rao
Visakhapatnam: The Railway Board has issued the official gazette notification for the new South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone with headquarters at Visakhapatnam, fulfilling a long-pending demand of Andhra Pradesh. The new zone will become operational from June 1, 2026.
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As part of the restructuring, the the Board has also bifurcated the 120-year-old Waltair Division into two separate divisions ' Visakhapatnam Division and Rayagada Division. While the Visakhapatnam Division will be part of the new South Coast Railway, the Rayagada Division, headquartered at Rayagada, Odisha, will continue under the jurisdiction of East Coast Railway (ECoR).
The new South Coast Railway will have four divisions: Guntakal, Guntur, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam. After the changes, South Central Railway (SCR) will retain only Secunderabad, Hyderabad, and Nanded divisions.
Key transfers notified by the Railway Board: 'Ichchapuram to Palasa' section from Khurda Road Division, ECoR, to Visakhapatnam Division, SCoR.
'Raichur ' Wadi section' from Guntakal Division to Secunderabad Division, SCR.
'Pagidipalli ' Vishnupuram' route from Guntur Division to Secunderabad Division, SCR.
'Kondapalli ' Motumari' section from Secunderabad Division to Vijayawada Division, SCoR.
The boundary between Visakhapatnam and Rayagada divisions has been fixed at the 'Singapur Road ' Vizianagaram' section. Detailed chainage-wise boundaries between SCoR and ECoR have also been notified.
The announcement of South Coast Railway with Visakhapatnam as headquarters was first made by the Centre in February 2019. However, the formal gazette notification and operationalization were delayed due to disagreements over the bifurcation of Waltair Division, with Odisha raising concerns over loss of revenue and administrative control.
With the new zone, Andhra Pradesh will now have two railway zones ' South Central Railway's remnant portion and the full-fledged South Coast Railway ' covering most of the state's rail network. Officials said the zone is expected to expedite sanctioning of new lines, doubling, and station development works in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
Officials said SCoR is expected to speed up projects and improve operational efficiency in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. All changes will take effect from 00:00 hrs on June 1, 2026.
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