Anakapalle MP Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao (Avanthi) urged the government to announce creation of the new railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam, without any further delay.
Raising the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour on Monday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao recalled that the Union Government assured in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, that a new Railway Zone will be set up in Andhra Pradesh comprising Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal Divisions of South Central Railway and Waltair Division of East Coast Railway.
There has been a demand for creation of a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters for almost a decade. The present Waltair Division is the highest revenue earner in ECoR zone. The total revenue of Waltair Division is about Rs.6,280 crore in 2013-14 which was about 50 per cent of the total annual revenue of ECoR.
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He said Visakhapatnam has natural advantage of having two major ports and abundant land bank readily available near Visakhapatnam Railway Station.
Waltair Division has the biggest locoshed and an excellent Coach Maintenance Depot.