The end of Waltair: How Visakhapatnam got its own railway division
The administrative map of the railways in Visakhapatnam has changed, moving from the old Waltair Railway Division to the newly formed Visakhapatnam Railway Division. The
The administrative map of the railways in Visakhapatnam has changed, moving from the old Waltair Railway Division to the newly formed Visakhapatnam Railway Division. The restructuring, which took shape in 2025, sits within the larger reorganisation that created India’s 18th railway zone, the South Coast Railway (SCoR), headquartered at Visakhapatnam. The Ministry of Railways issued the gazette notification on May 4, 2026, and the zone will be fully operational on June 1, 2026. It meets a demand that Andhra Pradesh has pressed for more than four decades and a statutory commitment under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Over a century of railway operations The railway network in this region dates to 1893, when broad-gauge operations began as part of the East Coast Railways.
Through the 20th century, the network grew steadily, and reached early milestones such as the start of the Parlakhemundi Light Railways in 1901, and the inclusion of the Waltair Division in the Bengal Nagpur Railway by 1931. The division’s role as an industrial logistics hub grew further after the commissioning of the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line in 1968, which began carrying passenger trains by 1978. Modernisation milestones The division’s growth has been marked by steady technological and operational upgrades. Electric traction was introduced across the division in 1982. The Koraput-Rayagada (KR) line was commissioned in 1996. The network reached a key milestone in 2011, when the Naupada-Gunupur line was converted to broad gauge, and the division got a uniform gauge system.
Modern passenger services took a step up after the introduction of the first Vande Bharat Express from Visakhapatnam in 2023. The 2025 administrative restructuring A turning point came in 2025. The Rayagada Division and the South Coast Railway zone were formally created, and the former Waltair Division was split in two to improve administrative oversight. The southern section was reorganised as the Visakhapatnam Railway Division, and the northern sections were folded into the new Rayagada Division. The Centre had announced the SCoR in February 2019. The State government handed over 52.2 acres at Mudasarlova for the zonal office in August 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in January 2025, and the Union Cabinet granted ex post facto approval for the detailed project report the following month.
Strategic outlook and future connectivity The continuing changes in the rail network are aimed at better connectivity. In 2025, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) launched the first Amrit Bharat train, linking Brahmapur and Udhna through Vizianagaram and Rayagada, an example of the region’s growing transit reach. The new zone brings together the Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions and the 410-km Visakhapatnam Division. The ₹184-crore zonal headquarters is coming up at Mudasarlova. The SCoR transported 286 million tonnes in 2025-26, which accounted for 17% of India’s total railway loading. The Visakhapatnam Railway Division now continues to handle the region’s freight flows and rising passenger numbers under the new zone.
The BriefWire