A view of the Visakhapatnam Railway Station.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
The truncated portion of the 131-year-old Waltair Division will be renamed as ‘Visakhapatnam Division’ and its headquarters retained in Visakhapatnam as per the aspirations of the people of North Andhra and leaders of various political parties.
This will prevent the glorious division from slipping into the annals of history.
A circular (dated January 10, 2025), purportedly issued by the Railway Board, which went viral on the social media on Wednesday, rekindled the hopes of the people of the region that the historic division would be retained.
In February 2019, ahead of the general elections, the then Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, had announced the establishment of the South Coast Railway (SCoR) with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam.
It was then decided to bifurcate the Waltair Division and merge one part with the existing Vijayawada Division. The remaining part was sought to be merged with the division to be formed at Rayagada in Odisha.
The Waltair Division is spread over parts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The Odisha and Chhattisgarh portions were to be merged with the Rayagada Division of ECoR.
At the time of formation of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) in 2003, it was truncated to pave the way for formation of the Sambalpur Division, leaving Waltair Division with 1,106 km.
As per the circular, one part of the Waltair Division, comprising approximately the sections between the stations Palasa – Visakhapatnam – Duvvada, Kuneru – Vizianagaram, Naupada Junction – Paralakhemundi, Bobbili Junction, Salur, Simhachalam North, Duvvada bypass, Vadalapudi-Duvvada and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Jaggayapalem (around 410 Km), will be retained as Waltair Division under SCoR and renamed as Visakhapatnam Division.
The other part, comprising approximately the sections between the stations Kottavalasa, Bacheli / Kirandul, Kuneru-Theruvali Junction, Singapur Road- Koraput Junction and Paralakhemundi – Gunpur (around 680 km), will be converted into a new division with headquarters at Rayagada.
Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat hailed the decision of the Railway Board as “historic” and described it as “victory” of the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance government.
“We are yet to get an official letter, or confirmation, on this. Hence, I cannot comment on it,” Waltair Divisional Railway Manager M.K. Sahoo told The Hindu.
Published – February 05, 2025 08:18 pm IST