East Coast Railway – one of the blue chip zones of Indian Railways came into existence in its present form with effect from 1st April 2003. Since then, the new zonal railway headquarter has been functioning at Bhubaneswar, the capital city in the state of Orissa. The geographical jurisdiction of the railway is however extended over three states encompassing almost all parts of Orissa alongwith parts of Srikakulam, Vizainagaram & Visakhapatnam districts of North Eastern Andhra Pradesh, and Bastar & Dantewada districts of Chhatisgarh State. As such, these regions with a
long coastal line are rich in mineral and other natural resources, and are on the threshold of an industrial upsurge.
East Coast Railway is poised to take the lead role in meeting the increased transport demand of this region which is coming up with several mineral based industries, mega steel plants and chemical & & fertilizer plants. Ambitious plans are on the cards to augment and increase rail capacity to major ports like, Paradeep, Gopalpur & Visakhapatnam while enhancing their cargo handling facilities. To match with the anticipated growth of the industrial activity, various projects for development of rail infrastructure are currently under execution.
