Madhav Thanks Railway Minister For SCoR Zone

Visakhapatnam: State BJP president P.V.N. Madhav thanked railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav for announcing that the operations for the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, were set to fully commence by April 1, 2026.

Speaking on the occasion, he recalled that the Central government had announced the formation of the South Coast Railway zone on February 17, 2019, and the Union Cabinet approved the detailed project report (DPR) on February 28 in the same year.

He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the zone's permanent headquarters at Mudasarlova on January 8, 2025. The project has been designed with an estimated cost of over `183 crore.

Until the permanent building is completed, operations are being conducted temporarily from the VMRDA's iconic "The Deck" building.

The new zone will include the Visakhapatnam division (carved out from the old Waltair division) and the Vijayawada, Guntur, and Guntakal divisions. It will cover parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Madhav stated that the launch of the Visakhapatnam railway zone will improve railway infrastructure across the state. It will lead to the sanctioning of new trains and expansion of platforms and create over 15,000 job opportunities.

He reaffirmed that the Central government was committed to the development of Andhra Pradesh.