A view of Visakhapatnam Railway station. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Ministry of Railways is establishing the Railway Zone in Visakhapatnam, connecting Amaravati, by constructing a railway station, with the rest of the country and has planned to develop a rail coach factory at Kazipet in Telangana, as part of implementing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014.
In response to a Right to Information (RTI) query raised by this The Hindu Correspondent, the Ministry of Railways has explained that as part of executing the A.P. Reorganization Act, the department has undertaken these infrastructure development works. Sunil Prabhat, Joint Director/Efficiency and Research, Railway Board, while providing the details explained that the item No. 8, 10 and 11 of Schedule 13, related to infrastructure, of the Act are pertaining to the Ministry and execution of these projects are in different stages.
As per the item number 8, the foundation stone of new SCoR Zone has been laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 8, 2025. Tender for SCoR Head Quarters Office building has also been awarded. Additionally, the General Manager has also been posted at South Coast Railway on June 5, 2025.
With respect to the item number 10 in the thirteenth schedule of the Act, Indian Railway has planned to develop a Rail Manufacturing Unit at Kazipet, Telangana which will be capable of manufacturing and maintaining a variety of modern railway stocks. The project has been sanctioned and entrusted to Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.
When it comes to the execution of the item number 11 in the same schedule, the Railway Ministry has explained that, “The new capital of Andhra Pradesh i.e. Amaravati is near to Vijayawada, which is situated on important rail route and is very well connected with Secunderabad. Moreover, to provide direct rail connectivity to Amaravati, a separate project, that is Errupalem-Namburu via Amaravati new line with 56.53 Kms has been sanctioned. Regarding better connectivity from Amaravati to Hyderabad and other important cities, a number of projects are in progress”.
Though, the RTI reply did not say anything about the Metro projects for Andhra Pradesh, the central government has also initiated Vizag and Vijayawada metro projects. Item number 12 of the same schedule in the Act mandates that, “The Government of India shall examine the feasibility of Metro Rail facility in Vishakhapatnam and Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali Metropolitan Urban Development Authority within a period of one year from the appointed day and take an expeditious decision thereon.”
Published – July 31, 2025 11:08 AM is
