South Coast Railway zone latest news: ‘ newly created South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone will start operations from today i.e. June 1. The foundation stone for its headquarters in Visakhapatnam was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 8, 2025. With the operationalisation of the SCoR, the total number of railway zones in the country increases to 18.
In a gazette notification issued on May 4, 2026, the Ministry of Railways said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of Section 3 of the Railways Act, 1989 (No.24 of 1989), the Central Government hereby constitutes a new Zonal Railway namely SOUTH COAST RAILWAY with headquarters at Visakhapatnam, out of the existing East Coast Railway and South Central Railway zones, with effect from 01.06.2026.”
According to the notification, the existing Waltair Division of East Coast Railway will be bifurcated in two parts. One part will remain under the existing East Coast Railway and will be renamed as the new Rayagada Division, while the remaining portion of the Waltair Division will become part of the newly created South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone and will be renamed as the Visakhapatnam Division.
The has been formed through the reorganisation of parts of the erstwhile South Central Railway (SCR) and East Coast Railway (ECoR) zones. It covers a vast rail network across Andhra Pradesh and also serves parts of Telangana and .
This new zone is expected to improve operational efficiency, strengthen passenger train services, enhance freight movement and facilitate faster execution of railway infrastructure and capacity expansion projects across the region.
The newly formed zone will consist of four divisions: Visakhapatnam (newly reorganized), Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal.
The zonal railway will manage a workforce of nearly 17,000 employees. It is expected to handle more than 500 trains during peak operational seasons and over 800 goods trains. It will also expected to play a crucial role in improving cargo movement and multimodal logistics for major ports.
