The Ministry of Railways has stated that the proposed South Coast Railway zone in Andhra Pradesh is very much on the table with the Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by Officer on Special Duty (OSD) concerned currently under review.
An umbrella work titled “Creation of New South Coast Railway zone and new Rayagada division in East Coast Railway” was also included in Budget 2020-21 at an estimated cost of ₹170 crore. A land pocket for construction of SCoR zonal headquarters office complex was also identified near the existing DRM office, said an official spokesperson on Wednesday.
The Railways, in fact, had fast-tracked the process to take up preliminary activities like land survey, complete lay-out plan for the office complex, residential colonies and other construction prerequisites. Recently, the architectural plan for this had also been submitted for scrutiny.
The South Coast Railway or ScoR would comprise existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions and a part of Waltair division to be merged with Vijayawada divisions. The balance portion of Waltair would be made a new division with headquarters at Rayagada under the East Coast Railway (ECoR). South Central Railway would later comprise existing Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions only, he said, in a press release.
