AP gets Vizag Railway Zone ahead of Narendra Modi’s visit

New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has announced the carving out of the new Visakhapatnam Railway Zone as promised in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. With Modi schedule to visit Visakhapatnam on March 1, the BJP insiders are selectively leaking that election notification will be made on March 3.

The new zone shall be known as South Coast Railway Zone and will comprise the divisions of Vijayawada, Guntakal and part of Waltair divisions. This was declared by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi on Wednesday evening.

Railway Zone for AP was the second most important demand of the people of AP apart from the Special Category Status. The TDP had walked out of the alliance after protracted agitation from the NDA too over it.

The Centre had always maintained that formation of a new zone was an administrative and executive decision and not a political one. Having come under the pressure of the TDP government led by N Chandrababu Naidu, finally it had blinked and conceded the demand afraid of the repercussions.