BHUBANESWAR: Amid protests over merger of the Palasa-Ichchapuram section of East Coast Railway (ECoR) with newly-created South Coast Railway (SCoR), railway officials on Sunday clarified that the move will not affect the revenue of ECoR zone.
The ECoR in its clarification stated that the Palasa-Ichchapuram section stretching about 50 km, consists of seven stations such as Palasa, Summadevi, Mandasa Road, Baruva, Sompeta, Jhadupudi and Ichchapuram.
“All these stations are located in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. Besides, these stations are small to mid-sized and largely handling passenger traffic. None of them is a major freight loading point for which ECoR’s revenue remains unaffected,” it stated.
ECoR also shared that the pass-through freight traffic, trains transiting through these stations en route, will continue uninterrupted regardless of the zone jurisdiction under which the stations fall.
“Railway operations are seamless across zonal boundaries for which there will be no disruption to train services. All existing trains including Palasa-Bhubaneswar, Palasa-Cuttack and Ichchapuram-Cuttack MEMU/passenger services will continue to operate without any change in schedule, route or frequency,” it said.
ECoR termed the fresh merger as ‘technical revision to ensure smooth functioning of the passenger services in Visakhapatnam division’.
The modalities of the transfer, including staff deployment, are being finalised between ECoR and SCoR. The interests and service conditions of all railway employees will be fully protected as per established norms, officials of the zone said.
Railway authorities said the government’s commitment to Odisha is unwavering. Record capital expenditure on railway network expansion in Odisha, station modernisation, Vande Bharat services and the newly-created Rayagada Division under ECoR are evidences of this commitment, they said.