HYDERABAD: With the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone gearing up for full-fledged operations, concerns loom over the future of the South Central Railway (SCR). The reorganisation will see the transfer of three key revenue-generating divisions, including Vijayawada, Guntakal, and Guntur to SCoR, slashing SCR’s route length from 6,424.5 km to around 3,127 km and possibly cutting its Rs 20,000 crore annual revenue by half.
SCoR will take over about 3,290 km of track, including freight corridors linked to Visakhapatnam and Kakinada ports. The new zone, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, will operate temporarily from ‘The Deck’ in Sripuram until its permanent office at Mudasarlova, being built at a cost of over Rs 150 crore, is ready. Further, from 80,000 SCR employees, over 40,000 of them are expected to be transferred to the new zone, with the final numbers to be confirmed soon.
Amid these developments, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) member Noor Ahmed Ali has proposed creating the Raichur Railway division by merging sections from the Guntakal and Secunderabad divisions. He noted that restructuring would help decongest the overburdened Secunderabad Division, enhance operational efficiency.
Ali noted Raichur’s strategic location citing its water resources and available land between Raichur and Mantralayam for establishing divisional offices. He submitted a formal request to Union Minister of State for Railways V Somanna, urging them to consider the proposal.