BHUBANESWAR: The Rayagada railway division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) will be notified on June 1 and operationalised the same day, railway officials said on Tuesday.
This was informed immediately after Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced in Andhra Pradesh that the Centre will officially notify the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, on June 1, 2026.
The SCoR zone will be the new and 18th railway zone in the country and include the Waltair division, currently under the administrative jurisdiction of the ECoR. ECoR sources said the new Rayagada division will be notified and operationalised on the day of the notification of SCoR zone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the Rayagada railway division building on January 6 this year. He has asserted that the new division will strengthen Odisha’s railway infrastructure, particularly benefitting southern Odisha, which has a higher concentration of tribal population.
Sources said the division will have a rail network of 695 km including 164 km of Koraput-Singapur road stretch, 36 km of Therubali-Koneru stretch, 442 km Kothavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line and 53.5 km Paralakhemundi-Gunpur section.
As the decision of Railway Board to merge the Palasa-Ichchapuram section of ECoR with the newly-created SCoR had drawn sharp criticism from different quarters in the state, the government had earlier clarified that the high-revenue KK line will be placed under the jurisdiction of Rayagada division.
ECoR sources also stated that creation of the new division in Rayagada will catalyse the emergence of the region as a key growth centre, fostering development across southern Odisha and adjoining regions. Creation of the new division will also help in generating new employment, boosting economic activity and driving inclusive regional progress, the sources added.
ECoR officials said the new railway division being built at a cost of `107 crore will have modern office infrastructure, including a DRM office building, divisional control office and residential facilities for staff.
Most of the civil work of the project is now complete and construction of staff quarters is in progress. Around six to seven senior-level officials including the divisional railway manager (DRM) have also been posted in the division, they said.
