SCR, TS to lose out in truncated zone

Passenger and freight earnings to be cut by half with formation of SCoR

Cut into half and losing as much revenue — this is the plight of much-vaunted South Central Railway (SCR) after Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announcement on Wednesday about the formation of South Coast Railway (SCoR) with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

If Andhra Pradesh and SCoR have ‘gained’ by getting Guntur, Guntakal and Vijayawada divisions along with Visakhapatnam and Odisha is getting a new divisional headquarters in the backward region of Rayagada, Telangana and SCR have lost not only in terms of territory but also reduced in importance considering it was among the best performing zones in the entire railway network, senior railway officials say.

Cut to 3 divisions

If SCR had earlier straddled TS, Andhra, parts of Maharastra, Karnataka, Tamil Naidu and Madhya Pradesh, it is now confined to just Hyderabad, Secunderabad and the small Nanded divisions.

“Our new boundaries will now extend to Ballarshah in north, Kondapalli in south, Wadi in west and Nagarsol in east with Secunderabad division alone being a major freight carrying zone confined to coal and cement,” they explain.

SCoR could be in for a windfall in terms of freight capacity given the fact that major ports of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Krishnapatnam will come under its jurisdiction.

Gunkatal division, too, earns good revenue transporting cement and iron ore.

Impact on earnings

SCR earnings in 2017-18 was ₹13,673 crore and freight loading was 103 million tonnes.

Rough estimate done in a preliminary study is that both passenger and freight earnings are going to come down by 50% at least within the truncated zone.

“Our Rail Nilayam, Lekha Bhavan and other major office houses will be emptied by half because those working with the zonal headquarters will have to move to SCoR. However, there will not be much movement in the divisional offices as they are shifting lock, stock and barrel to the new zone,” railway officials explain.

They also state that it could take up to two years for bifurcation to go through when an officer on special duty is appointed to chalk out logistics of sharing the staff and resources, but it could happen only when the next government is formed at the Centre as everyone will be busy with the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, railway officials say there are few issues for which more clarity could be expected in the months ahead.

For instance, Bibinagar, Nadikudi lines up to Vishnupuram are part of TS but are in Guntur division going to SCoR; Hyderabad division of SCR extends up to Kurnool-Dhone of AP whereas Itchapuram and Palasa (both AP) continue to be in Khurda division of East Coast Railways.