VIJAYAWADA: The Centre on Friday informed Parliament that the detailed project report (DPR) for creation of a new South Coast Railway Zone headquartered at Visakhapatnam, has been submitted, and is being examined by the Railway Board. It, however, stated that no time frame can be fixed for operationalisation of the new railway zone as the DPR is still under scrutiny.
Replying to a query by BJP Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao, Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said the preparatory work for the formation of the new zone is underway. “An officer on special duty/South Coast Railway (OSD/SCoR) was posted at Visakhapatnam to undertake planning and preparatory work for formation of a new zone. He has submitted the DPR for setting up of the new SCoR Zone, which is currently under examination by the Railway Board,” the Union Minister said.
GVL also sought to know if a revised DPR was submitted recommending retention of Visakhapatnam division with areas falling in Andhra Pradesh remaining under it without additional cost implications. To this the Union minister answered in negative.
Regarding the redevelopment of railway stations, Piyush Goyal stated that the request for qualification for redevelopment of stations has been finalised for Tirupati and Nellore railway stations. “A time frame of three years has been proposed for completion of Tirupati and Nellore stations after award of contract. Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada stations have been identified for conducting techno-economic feasibility studies,” he revealed. No expenditure is envisaged from the Ministry of Railways for it, he said, adding that the redevelopment of stations will be taken up under public private partnership model.