The city is all set to lose its stake for housing the headquarters of the proposed Railway zone to Visakhapatnam, amid reports that brisk work is being done behind the scenes to locate the new zone in the port city.
The Railway officials are, however, tight-lipped over the recommendations made by the panel constituted by the Railway Board to study the feasibility of the new zone and its headquarters. The Railway Board, according to official sources, preferred to locate the new zone HQ at Visakhapatnam (Waltair).
Steps are afoot to bring Waltair division under the purview of the new zone from its present positioning in the jurisdiction of the Bhubaneswar-based East Coast Railway. The AP Reorganisation Act mandated the Indian Railways to ‘examine establishing a new railway zone in AP within six months from the Appointed Day. An official of Vijayawada Division told The Hindu that there would be no objection even if the Kotthavalasa-Kirandul line which is a major source of revenue for ECR is retained by it as few staff would be keen to work there. “Vijayawada is the busiest station in SCR through which nearly 350 trains pass daily and it should have been duly rewarded,” the official said.The biggest advantage of Vijayawada station is that it is a junction, the second busiest junction after Mughalsarai, whereas the one at Visakhapatnam is a terminus, the official said.
