Anakapalle MP raises Special Railway Zone issue in Lok Sabha

Visakhapatnam: Anakapalle MP M Srinivasa Rao raised the issue of Special Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The MP said that over a decade, there has been a demand for new Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters as the present Waltair Division is the highest revenue earner in East Coast Railway Zone.

The total earnings of Waltair Division are Rs 6,280 crore in 2013-14 financial year which was 50 per cent of total earnings of East Coast Railway. The Central government had assured in the AP Reorganisation Bill 2014 that a new Railway Zone will be set up in Andhra Pradesh comprising three divisions of Vijayawada, Guntur, Guntakal and the Waltair Division of East Coast Railway.

Visakhapatnam is the fastest growing city in Asia having several reputed organizations like the Eastern Naval Command, NSTL, BHEL, BARC, HPCL refinery and Hinduja Power Project. The present Waltair Division has all infrastructure facilities to meet the requirements of the new railway zone.

After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the formation of new Railway Zone in AP has become a necessity as the headquarters of the South Central Railway is located at Secunderabad in Telangana State.