Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday that an Officer-on-Special Duty of South Coast Railway was posted at Visakhapatnam to undertake planning and preparatory work for the formation of the new South Coast Railway Zone.
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“The Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by the OSD is under the examination of the Railway Board,” Mr. Goyal stated in his written reply to a question posed by MP G.V.L. Narasimha Rao on the status of the railway zone proposed to be set up with its headquarters at Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Goyal said while the Railway Board was looking into the DPR, an umbrella work titled ‘Creation of new South Coast Railway Zone and new Rayagada Division in East Coast Railway’ was included in the 2020-21 Budget under the capital expenditure head at an estimated cost of ₹170 crore.
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In reply to a separate question by the MP on redevelopment of Tirupati railway station, Mr. Goyal said Requests for Qualification for the redevelopment of Tirupati and Nellore stations have been finalised. A time frame of three years was proposed for their completion from the date of award of contracts.
Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada stations were identified for conducting techno-economic feasibility studies. However, no expenditure was envisaged from the Ministry of Railways as it was decided to undertake those projects in the Public- Private Partnership mode.
Mr. Goyal noted that station redevelopment was planned by leveraging real estate potential of separable land and air space in and around the stations, for which techno-economic feasibility studies were conducted by the Railways and works have been awarded depending on their outcome.