CITU Decries South Coast Railway Zone as Betrayal of Andhra Pradesh

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Sunday (May 10, 2026) denounced the Union government's notification establishing the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone from June 1, 2026, calling it a betrayal of Andhra Pradesh's economic rights. The union alleged that the structure of the new zone excludes major revenue-generating sections, including most of the Kothavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line, which will remain under the East Coast Railway (ECoR) based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

CITU leaders Ch. Narasinga Rao and R.K.S.V. Kumar said 444 km of the 471-km KK line—responsible for ₹7,294 crore in goods traffic between 2024 and 2025—would benefit Odisha, with only 27 km falling under the Visakhapatnam division of SCoR. They argued that the exclusion of the Araku Valley tourist route and the decision to site the zonal headquarters in Mudasarlova, 20 km from Visakhapatnam Railway Station, further undermined the state’s interests and suspected real estate motives behind the relocation.

The union raised alarm over 4,698 unfilled posts in the Visakhapatnam division, including 2,413 safety-critical roles, and cited the abolition of 29,608 railway posts in April 2026 as evidence of a broader move toward privatisation. CITU dismissed railway modernisation as cosmetic, warning that permanent jobs are being replaced by contract labour.

While the TDP and BJP hailed the SCoR as a historic achievement for Andhra Pradesh, CITU insisted the zone was a statutory right under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, not a political concession. The union accused both the Centre and the state’s ruling party of failing the people for over a decade.

CITU has called for a sustained agitation by railway workers and the public to demand a restructured South Coast Railway zone that safeguards Andhra Pradesh’s revenue and employment interests. Protests are expected to intensify in the lead-up to the zone’s launch on June 1, 2026.