Railway map redrawn: Odisha seeks SER merger as ECoR shrinks, SCoR surges

The creation of South Coast Railway has reduced East Coast Railway's footprint, prompting renewed demands to merge Odisha-based South Eastern Railway sections with ECoR

The operationalisation of the new South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone has altered the railway map of eastern and southern India, reducing the geographical footprint of the Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway (ECoR), which covers Odisha, while creating a larger railway zone in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

 

According to documents and redrawn railway maps of both zones reviewed by Business Standard, the restructuring resulted in ECoR losing 461.32 route km by ceding portions of its AP jurisdiction to the newly created zone. SCoR is now larger than the post-bifurcation ECoR by 824.25 km. 

Map of South Eastern Railway headquartered at Kolkata in West Bengal

 

ECoR's route length before SCoR's creation stood at 3,169.48 km, comprising the Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair divisions. Following the bifurcation of the Waltair division and the formation of the new Rayagada division, ECoR's route length has come down to 2,708.16 km. The reduction of 461.32 km is largely attributable to the transfer of AP sections of the erstwhile Waltair division to the new SCoR.

 

Headquartered in Visakhapatnam, SCoR has emerged as a substantially larger zone comprising four divisions — Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal — with a combined route length of 3,532.4 km. In terms of running track length, the disparity is clearly visible. SCoR controls 6,455.43 km of running track compared with ECoR's 4,975.83 km, giving the new zone an advantage of nearly 1,480 km.

 

"Not only the route and track km, the revenue of ECoR has also come down in the initial months of this fiscal following the restructuring. ECoR was the top zone in terms of earnings. More importantly, Indian Railways created the Rayagada division by splitting the Waltair division, but it is one of the smallest divisions in the country and basically a realignment as it has been formed with major portions from ECoR's Sambalpur division," pointed out Bhrugu Baxipatra, president of the Southern Odisha Development Council.

 

Apart from the territorial reduction, data indicated that 2,350.05 km of railway lines within Odisha now fall under ECoR, accounting for approximately 77.8 per cent of the state's rail network. Another 668.41 km of railway lines in Odisha continue to remain under the Kolkata-headquartered South Eastern Railway (SER).

 

The situation in Andhra Pradesh is almost the reverse. Of the state's railway network, 3,453 km now fall under SCoR, representing about 96.8 per cent of AP's rail infrastructure. Only around 115.27 km of the state remains under ECoR.

 

The reorganisation follows the formal operationalisation of SCoR on June 1. The new zone was carved out of portions of ECoR and South Central Railway (SCR). The latest restructuring has revived a long-standing demand in Odisha that railway lines located within the state but presently administered by the Kolkata-headquartered South Eastern Railway (SER) should be merged with ECoR.

 

"Several strategically important sections in northern Odisha, including parts of the mineral-rich Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts and the Chakradharpur corridor, remain under SER despite being geographically located in Odisha. We demand that these sections now be merged with ECoR to create administrative coherence," said Baxipatra, also a senior BJD leader.

 

Srikanta Jena, former Union minister, said ECoR, once the top freight-earning zone of the railways, effectively lost control over Visakhapatnam and adjoining railway assets with the creation of SCoR.

 

"Railway zones were never created on the basis of the geographical boundaries of states. But since SCoR covers 97 per cent of AP's railway network, bringing Odisha-based SER sections under ECoR would compensate for the territorial reduction and ensure that all railway lines within the state are administered by a zone headquartered in Odisha," Jena reasoned.

 

Railway officials, however, maintained that ECoR has retained the most lucrative freight-generating corridors, including the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line and other mineral transportation routes connecting Odisha's mining hinterland with major ports. "The creation of the Rayagada division would strengthen railway administration in southern Odisha while preserving ECoR's revenue base," said an official. 

Odisha portions of rly under SER

• 668.41 route km covering highly industrialised sectors in northern and western Odisha
• Managed under Chakradharpur, Kharagpur divisions of South Coast Railway
• Key districts served: Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Balasore
• Major lines: Rourkela-Jharsuguda main line, part of the crucial Howrah-Mumbai trunk route and Ranital-Rupsa-Bangiriposi
• Branch lines: Jareikela-Bondamunda, Ib-Belpahar-Brajarajnagar and Bansapani-Barbil corridors linking mineral and industrial regions with major steel plants