The Union Government will officially notify the South Coast Railway Zone (SCoR), headquartered in Visakhapatnam, on June 1, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw announced during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Google Cloud India AI Hub organised at Tarluvada in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

The South Coast Railway Zone will be the 18th railway zone in the country and is expected to strengthen railway administration, improve operational efficiency, and enhance infrastructure development across Andhra Pradesh.

The Railway Minister detailed a series of infrastructure and railway development initiatives for Andhra Pradesh, stating that the railway budget allocation for the state currently stands at Rs 10,134 crore, compared to Rs 886 crore earlier for undivided Andhra Pradesh. He added that railway projects worth Rs 1.06 lakh crore are presently under execution in the state.

The Railway Minister noted that 74 railway stations in Andhra Pradesh are being modernised under the 'Nava Nirman' initiative, alongside the construction of 832 flyovers and underpasses and the laying of 1,039 kilometres of new railway lines. Andhra Pradesh has also achieved 100 per cent railway electrification, with 16 Vande Bharat services and 22 Amrit Bharat services currently operating in AP, he informed.

He highlighted proposed high-speed rail connectivity projects, including a bullet train corridor between Amaravati and Hyderabad, which is expected to reduce travel time to 70 minutes, and another proposed line between Amaravati and Chennai with a travel time of 112 minutes.

Further, he stated that the government plans to upgrade the East Coast double-line corridor from Kolkata to Chennai into a four-line system and expand connectivity with the addition of around 500 passenger, container and freight train services.

The Railway Minister mentioned that these initiatives reflect the government's focus on strengthening infrastructure, improving connectivity and ensuring balanced development across southern states.

Later, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the South Coastal Railway Zone office temporarily set up at the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority's building. They reviewed the activities of the new zone and the progress of railway projects in AP. Chief Minister Naidu requested the Railway Minister to make a few administrative changes by merging a few more sections in the newly formed South Coast Railway Zone.