Overview
- The Ministry of Railways issued a gazette on May 4 that made the South Coast Railway (SCoR) operational from June 1, 2026, establishing Visakhapatnam as the zonal headquarters.
- SCoR has four divisions — Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal — and is operating from temporary offices in Visakhapatnam under General Manager Sandeep Mathur.
- The historic Waltair Division was split on June 1 into a 463 route‑km Visakhapatnam Division now in SCoR and a 696 route‑km Rayagada Division remaining with East Coast Railway.
- Railway officials say the new zone will manage about 17,000 staff, handle roughly 500 passenger trains at peak and over 800 goods trains, and builds on a reported 286 million tonnes of freight moved in 2025–26.
- The change is meant to bring decision making closer to projects and ports, shorten timelines for track and capacity works, and respond to a decades‑long demand from Andhra Pradesh for a Visakhapatnam‑centred zone.