Visakhapatnam Railway Zone: Tender awarded, preparations accelerated & other updates

The South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone headquarters in Visakhapatnam has moved one step closer to reality, with the tender for its construction officially awarded. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 8 August, confirmed that the tender for the project has been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 183.58 crore.

Responding to queries about the project’s timeline, land acquisition, and budget allocation, Vaishnaw stated that the foundation stone for the new zone was laid recently. In August 2024, the Andhra Pradesh government handed over 52.2 acres of land at Mudasarlova to the Railways for setting up the SCoR headquarters.

“The construction of the zonal headquarters office building has been sanctioned and work is underway,” the minister said, adding that the General Manager for SCoR has already been appointed. The new zone will cover the Guntakal, Guntur, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam (Waltair) divisions, spanning parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Temporary office to begin operations by Dussehra

With the tender awarded, the permanent headquarters of the Visakhapatnam Railway Zone is under construction. The temporary General Manager’s office will be set up in “The Deck,” a recently completed building opposite the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) office. Railway officials are aiming to kick-start SCoR’s operations around Dussehra.

The sixth and seventh floors, spanning 41,500 square feet will house the GM and 15 departmental heads (HODs). An additional 30 officers and around 700 employees will also work from this location. Once the permanent building is ready in a couple of years, operations will shift there.

Sandeep Mathur, appointed as GM in June, has already inspected the temporary premises. The Railway Board is also accelerating key appointments, with AP Sharma recently named Principal Chief Electrical Engineer, and Amit Gupta appointed Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer. An East Coast Zone officer has been given additional charge as finance head. More postings, including Principal Heads of Departments (PhDs), are expected in the coming days.

Full reorganisation expected soon

Once the PhD appointments are finalised, the Railway Board is expected to issue a notification on the reorganisation of the South Central Railway and the creation of the South Coast Zone. According to railway sources, this could happen by the end of August or in the first week of September.

A senior official indicated that the formal “appointed day” for the new zone’s operations will be declared within three to four months of the notification. From that date, the South Central and South Coast railways will operate independently, marking a major milestone in the long-awaited reorganisation.

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