South Coast Railway zone
18th Railway zone of Indian Railways
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Through Andhra Pradesh and Government of India
The zone has been operational since 1 June 2026.
History
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 was enacted paving way for the formation of South Coast railway zone. The Government of India has announced the creation of the zone on 17 February 2019. On 28 February 2019, the Union cabinet approved the detailed project report. After a six-year delay, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the construction of headquarters at Visakhapatnam on 8 January 2025.
The union cabinet gave post-facto approval to the final Detailed Project report of South Coast Railway zone with partial modifications to it on 7 February 2025. Later, on 28 April 2026, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the new South Coastal Zone will come into existence and start functioning from 1 June 2026. Addressing a gathering after the Ground Breaking Ceremony of Google Cloud India AI Hub at Visakhapatnam, Vaishnaw said, "Gazette Notification for the creation of South Coastal Railway Zone will be issued, with 1 June 2026 being notified as the effective date".
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Divisions
South Coast Railway consists of four railway divisions. They are:
- Guntakal railway division
- Guntur railway division
- Vijayawada railway division
- Visakhapatnam railway division
Network
The zone covers the state of Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu.
Route Length
The 1106 route km of the present Waltair division is distributed between East Coast Railway – Rayagada division (541 km), Khurda division (115 km) and Visakhapatnam division (460 km). SCoR's division-wise route km and running track km is as follows: Vijayawada – 1,111 and 2,409 respectively, Guntakal – 1,346 and 2,183, Guntur – 613 and 883 and Visakhapatnam – 450 and 979 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 - Ichchapuram
- Duvvada - Simhachalam North
- Vadlapudi - Duvvada
- Visakhapatnam Steel Plant - Vadlapudi
- Vizianagaram - Kuneru
- Naupada Jn - Parlakhemundi
- Bobbili - Salur
Jurisdiction of Guntakal Division
- Guntakal - Raichur (excluding)
- Guntakal - Dhone - Nandyal (excluding)
- Nandyal - Yerraguntla
- Guntakal - Ballari (excluding)
- Guntakal - Renigunta
- Guntakal - Dharmavaram
- Dharmavaram - Pakala
- Gudur (excluding) - Renigunta - Pakala - Katpadi (excluding)
- Kadapa - Pendlimarri
- Pendekallu - Gooty
- Gooty - Kalluru
Jurisdiction of Guntur Division
- Guntur - Vishnupuram (exclusive)
- New Piduguralla - Savalyapuram
- Nallapadu - Nandyal
- Guntur - Tenali (exclusive) - Repalle
- Guntur - Krishna Canal (exclusive)
- Nadikudi - Macherla
- Guntur byepass line
- Gundlakamma- Kanigiri
Jurisdiction of Vijayawada Division
- Gudur - Duvvada (Exclusive)
- Vijayawada - Motumari
- Vijayawada - Gudivada - Bhimavaram - Nidadavolu
- Gudivada - Machilipatnam
- Bhimavaram - Narsapur
- Samalkot - Kakinada Port
- Kakinada Town - Kotipalli
- Venkatachalam - Krishnapatnam Port
- Vijayawada Bulb Cabins
- Krishna Canal Junction (Majour Interchange)
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 ₹13,000 crore (equivalent to ₹170 billion or US$1.7 billion in 2026) 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, Tanuku, 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, Vinukonda, Pedana, Ramavarappadu, Uppaluru, Nidamanuru, Madhura Nagar, 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, Visakhapatnam and Gooty have wagon maintenance depots.
Pit Lines
The zone has 7 pitlines at Vijayawada, 3 pitlines at Kakinada, 2 pitlines at Narsapuram, 2 pitlines at Machilipatnam, 5 pitlines at Tirupathi, 1 pitline at Guntakal, 6 pitlines at Visakhapatnam, 3 pitlines at Guntur, 1 Pitline at Nallapadu
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 loco sheds at:
- Diesel Loco Shed, Gooty
- Diesel Loco Shed, Guntakal
- Diesel Loco Shed, Vijayawada
- Diesel Loco Shed, Visakhapatnam
- Electric Loco Shed, Vijayawada
- Electric Loco Shed, Visakhapatnam
- Memu Car Shed at Rajahmundry
It also has four electric loco trip sheds at Guntakal, Renigunta, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
There are plans to convert the trip shed in Guntakal to an electric loco shed.