Hyderabad: In order to fulfil the commitment of creating a railway zone for Andhra Pradesh, the Union railway ministry has in principle decided to split South Central Railway into two. The headquarters will continue in the twin cities.

According to sources, this decision was taken in order to satisfy Andhra Pradesh without causing any hardship to the 80,000-plus South Central Railway employees working here. The Centre came to this decision after an expert committee, constituted under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, did not favour establishing a new rail zone for Andhra Pradesh. According to sources, railway minister Suresh Prabhu will announce the decision in the Railway Budget on February 26.

The expert committee did not favour either setting up a new rail zone with headquarters at Visakhapatnam (presently with East Coast Railway) or at Vijayawada (with SCR), and left the decision to the Railway Board.

Who gets what

SCR Zone 1 to cover Telangana, with Nanded, Secunderabad and Hyderabad divisions.
SCR Zone 2, covering Andhra Pradesh, will get Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal divisions.
No SCR staff will be shifted due to South Central Railway bifurcation.