South Coast Railway zone

The South Coast Railway is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. The zonal headquarters is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The formal notification for operationalization of this zone is yet to be issued.

History

On 1 March 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 was enacted paving way for the formation of South Coast railway zone.
On 17 February 2019, the Government of India has announced the creation of South Coast railway zone.
On 28 February 2019, the Union cabinet approved the Detailed Project report of South Coast Railway zone.
On 8 January 2025, the Prime Minister of India has laid the foundation stone for the construction of headquarters at Visakhapatnam.
On 7 February 2025, Union cabinet gave post-facto approval to the final Detailed Project report of South Coast Railway zone with partial modifications to it.

Divisions

SCoR consists of four railway divisions. They are:

Network

The zone covers the state of Andhra Pradesh and parts of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Route Length

The 1106 route km of the present Waltair division is proposed to be distributed between East Coast Railway – Rayagada division, Khurda division and Visakhapatnam division. With the proposed jurisdictions, SCoR will have division-wise route km and Running track km as: Vijayawada 956 and 1654 respectively, Guntakal 1,452 and 2,145, Guntur 630 and 661 and Visakhapatnam 450 and 810 respectively.

Jurisdiction of Visakhapatnam Division

The following sections remain under Visakhapatnam railway division after carving out Rayagada railway division from Waltair railway division.

Duvvada - Visakhapatnam - Palasa
Duvvada - Simhachalam North
Vadlapudi - Duvvada
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant - Vadlapudi
Vizianagaram - Kuneru
Naupada Jn - Parlakhemundi
Bobbili - Salur

Jurisdiction of Guntakal Division

Guntakal - Raichur
Guntakal - Dhone
Dhone - Nandyal
Nandyal - Yerraguntla
Guntakal - Bellary
Guntakal - Renigunta sub division
Guntakal - Dharmavaram
Dharmavaram - Pakala
Gudur - Renigunta - Katpadi
Kadapa - Pendlimarri

Jurisdiction of Guntur Division

Guntur - Vishnupuram
New Piduguralla - Savalyapuram
Nallapadu - Nandyal
Guntur - Tenali - Repalle
Guntur - Krishna Canal
Nadikudi - Macherla
Guntur byepass line

Jurisdiction of Vijayawada Division

Gudur - Duvvada
Vijayawada - Kondapalli
Vijayawada - Gudivada - Bhimavaram - Nidadavolu
Gudivada - Machilipatnam
Bhimavaram - Narsapur
Samalkot - Kakinada Port
Kakinada Town - Kotipalli
Venkatachalam - Krishnapatnam Port

Performance and earnings

The zone operates more than 500 trains during peak season to clear the rush of passengers. For the financial year 2020–2021, the zone is expected to collect per annum as per the DPR of SCoR.

Infrastructure

Wi-Fi Stations

Various railway stations in South Coast Railway zone are Wi-Fi enabled, provided by Railwire in association with Google which are as follows:

Urban: Visakhapatnam Junction, Vijayawada Junction, Guntur Junction,Gudivada Junction, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Kakinada Town, Nellore, Srikakulam Road, Bhimavaram Town, Samalkot Junction, Eluru, Kadapa, Proddatur, Renigunta Junction, Anantapur, Ongole, Guntakal Junction, Gudur Junction, Tadepalligudem, Tenali Junction, Tuni, Vizianagaram, Chirala, Yadgir,Machilipatnam, Pakala Junction, Chittoor and Raichur
Sub-urban: Powerpet-Eluru, New Guntur- Guntur, Duvvada-Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli-Visakhapatnam, Simhachalam-Visakhapatnam, Simhachalam North-Visakhapatnam, Marripalem-Visakhapatnam, Pendurthi-Visakhapatnam, Kotthavalasa-Visakhapatnam, Gunadala-Vijayawada, Kovvur-Rajahmundry, Rayanapadu-Vijayawada, Kakinada Port-Kakinada and Godavari-Rajahmundry
Rural: Gollapalli, Badampudi, Bhiknur, Bhimadolu, Chagallu, Chebrol, Denduluru, Duggirala, Gannavaram, Krishna Canal Junction, Mangalagiri, Mustabada, Navabpalem, Nambur, Nidadavolu Junction, Nuzvid, Pedda Avutapalle, Pedavadlapudi, Pulla, Sangamjagarlamudi, Telaprolu, Gundla, Vatlur, Talmadla, Upplavai

Depots in divisions

The zone has passenger coach care depots at Visakhapatnam in Visakhapatnam railway division.Kakinada, Narsapur, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada in Vijayawada railway division. Nallapadu, Guntur in Guntur railway division. Tirupati and Guntakal in Guntakal railway division. Additionally Vijayawada and Gooty have wagon maintenance depots.

Training Institutes

The zone has training institutes for imparting and learning railway techniques serving both Indian as well as foreign railway personnel at Vijayawada and Guntakal.

Healthcare

Divisional hospitals at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntakal, Guntur and Rayanapadu have healthcare facilities serving exclusively for the employees of Indian railways and their families.

Loco Sheds

The zone has Electric loco sheds at Electric Loco Shed, Vijayawada, Electric Loco Shed, Visakhapatnam and diesel loco sheds at Diesel Loco Shed, Guntakal, Diesel Loco Shed, Gooty, Diesel Loco Shed, Visakhapatnam, Diesel Loco Shed, Vijayawada. It also has two electric loco trip sheds at Guntakal and Renigunta and there are plans to convert the trip shed in Guntakal to an electric loco shed.