Contradicting the statement of East Coast Railway (ECoR) headquarters in Bhubaneswar, the authorities of Waltair Division claim that the number of platforms at Visakhapatnam Railway Station is more than adequate to meet the present needs.
Replying to a grievance sent by Dr. John Edward Bear in February this year, the Operating Department of ECoR in Bhubaneswar noted that it was not possible to run more trains from Visakhapatnam due to ‘infrastructural constraint’.
When his attention was brought to the need for construction of additional platforms at Visakhapatnam station as envisaged by former GM Indra Ghosh when he was DRM of Waltair, present General Manager of ECoR Rajiv Vishnoi said that there was no such proposal.
Divisional Railway Manager Anil Kumar intervened and said: “The existing eight platforms are ‘under-utilised’ and there is no immediate need for construction of additional platforms”.
When his attention was brought to the fact that important trains like Duronto and Janmabhoomi are being frequently delayed after Anakapalle due to non-availability of platforms, he denied it.
If the station is being underutilised then there is no justification for through trains to be routed via Duvvada bypassing Visakhapatnam.
Both the officials failed to respond on the issue of construction of 7.5 km third line from Gopalapatnam to Visakhapatnam, which could ease traffic congestion.
More platforms would enable all originating trains to begin from one side of the station. Further, it would also be operationally convenient to bring the trains coming from the Coaching Complex to the Gnanapuram-side, says RTI activist Sanni Babu.
