Staff see golden chance for rail division

Vijayawada: The local railway officials are hoping that the Vijayawada railway division may get zonal status after reports that the Group of Ministers is of the view that a new railway zone may be needed for the residual state of Andhra Pradesh.

If one goes by the priorities of the railway, Vijayawada division has the best chance to get zonal status, compared to the other railway divisions in the state.

The division already has a significant presence in the Indian Railway, with the city railway station being the second busiest railway junction after Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Every day, about 1.4 lakh passengers travel through the city railway station. Apart from this, the junction is said to be connection between North and South India.

Vijayawada railway division extends from Duvvada of East Godavari district to Guduru of Nellore district. Its annual income crosses '2,000 crore and it has nearly 22,000 employees.

At present, the Indian Railway functions under the zonal system. The Vijayawada division falls under Secunderabad zone along with Guntur and Guntakal divisions.

On the other hand, the area bordering Duvvada to Ichapuram falls under the limits of Waltair division, and under the East Coast Railway zone of Odisha state.  Geographically, it is on the edge of the state limits.

In this backdrop, public representatives have been demanding that the division be attached to the South Central Railway.

As per railway norms, the railway board generally upgrades or establishes divisions as new zones after considering  the existing income, importance and connectivity to divisions and zones of other states.

The railway management also takes steps to upgrade considering the passenger flow and potential of the area, and also its proximity to the state’s capital.

The Vijayawada division has all the necessary advantages than any other divisions of the state and speculation is that the city may be selected the new capital for residual state of AP.

Railway officials and unions have already submitted their representations to the GoM. Most of the employees requested the GoM to upgrade the Vijayawada railway division to a new zone and Vishaka division be attached to Andhra zone.

SCR Mazdoor Union Zonal leader Ch. Shankar Rao said that there was a good chance of the division being upgraded.