Duvvada railway station, which was established in 1903, will be completing 120 years next year. Duvvada, which was once a village near Visakhapatnam, is now a part of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). The old railway station building, constructed in 1903, was in existence till the mid-1990s.
The establishment of major industries, both in the public and private sectors towards Gajuwaka and beyond, mostly after Independence, has resulted in the growth of those areas, which is now referred to as the ‘industrial belt’ of Visakhapatnam, the biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, post-bifurcation of the State.
These developments and the inclusion of Duvvada in the GVMC have witnessed the exponential growth of residential colonies in and around Duvvada. The station is the entry point for trains, coming from Rajahmundry-side, as it’s the starting point for Waltair Division. It’s also the gateway to Visakhapatnam city.
The Railways had sanctioned ₹35 lakh for development of the railway station during the 1994-95 fiscal. The development of the station was taken up in a phased manner. The length of Platform (PF) no. 1 was extended by 110 metres during 1996 and construction of the new station building was started the same year. The height of PF no. 2 was raised to facilitate easy entry and exit of passengers, says Kanchumurthi Eswar, secretary of the Duvvada Railway Users Association, who has been constantly striving for improvement of amenities at the station for over three decades.
The new Railway Station building at Duvvada was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Railways Satpal Mahraj in May 1997. At that time, five pairs of passenger trains and two pairs of express trains were given halt at Duvvada.
The station was upgraded from E to D grade, based on passenger earnings in 2007. The construction of PF-4 and booking counter on the west side, sanctioned with ₹60 lakh, has taken place in 2010. All coaching (passenger) trains going towards Visakhapatnam junction were given PF-4 with effect from May 19, 2012. The station was again upgraded from D to B in 2012, based on passenger earnings (₹3 to ₹6 crore) for three consecutive years and an announcement was made in the 2012-13 Railway Budget that Duvvada would be developed as an ‘Adarsh station’.
The number of passengers utilising Duvvada station increased to 11.94 lakh and the passenger earnings increased to ₹8.8 crore during 2018-19, according to the RTI information obtained by Mr. Eswar.
37 pairs of trains
Today, around 10 lakh people residing in and around the industrial belt of the city use this station and 37 pairs of trains have been given stoppage.
