Visakhapatnam: The 131-year-old Waltair railway division will be retained even after the new South Coast Railway zone, comes into operation. This is contrary to the initial plan of scrapping the division in the new railway zone, which will include the Guntakal, Vijayawada, and Guntur divisions, besides the Waltair division.
The Waltair division has a 1,052 km route, including the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line of 446 km, the Koraput-Rayagada (KR) line of 164 km, and the Duvvada-Vizag-Palasa main line of 213 km. The KK line is one of the biggest freight revenue earners in the country.
Vizag MP M Sribharat urged railway minister Ashwin Vaishnaw to retain the century-old Waltair division under the SCoR zone along with the KK line. MP Bharat informed TOI that the railway minister responded positively to his request. The decision will be finalised through a cabinet meeting, he said. “I conveyed to the minister about the Waltair Division’s legacy and its role in freight revenue generation, which must be protected. Waltair Division will be retained,” he said.
However, sources said that the Waltair Division may or may not retain its freight earner, the KK line. The railway ministry will make a decision in the larger interest of the Indian Railways, they said. Splitting the division could disrupt administrative efficiency and regional identity. The decision will be announced in a couple of months.
The Waltair division has the largest diesel loco shed in Indian Railways, with a capacity to accommodate 300 diesel locomotives, and the electric loco shed currently holds 231 electric locomotives. The division surpassed the 75 million tonne mark in loading and exceeded Rs 10,000 crore in revenue earnings by March 31, 2024. It recorded 75.64 million tonnes of freight loading. The division emerged as the fifth highest revenue-earning division and the sixth highest freight-loading division in Indian Railways.
The new zone will have 17,000 employees in 18 departments, including chief engineer, commercial, mechanical, construction, operations, medical, personal, finance, electrical, maintenance, and others.
