Center Begins Consultations for Special Railway Zone to AP

Reports are emerging that the Central Government may announce a Special Railway Zone before the start of the second leg of the Budget session starting from March 5th. The center is already consulting with the concerned stakeholders before the announcement.

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Firstly, the Center proposed a Special Railway Zone with Guntakal as the headquarters but then Andhra Pradesh government has declined the proposal as such will only create regional differences in the state. Now, the center is proposing an alternate model to pacify Odisha.

The parts of Odisha which are currently in Vishakapatnam division may be retained by East Coast Railway Zone. The new zone for Andhra Pradesh will have the existing AP parts of Vishakapatnam Division and Guntur, Guntakal, Vijayawada divisions which are under South Central Railway Zone.

This may give rise to objections from Telangana Government as the South Central Railway Zone will be losing profitable zones. There are a couple of other proposals as well under the consideration of the Central government. We can only hope the announcement will not create more problems.