Opposition parties on Thursday staged a dharna outside the East Coast Railway (ECoR) Zone Office, Rail Sadan, demanding immediate restoration of the Waltair Railway Division to ECoR and rollback of the decision to transfer the Palasa-Ichchapuram section to the South Coast Railway (SCoR).

The Opposition objected to the bifurcation of the Waltair Division from ECoR and its integration with SCoR.

“We are not opposed to the creation of SCoR. However, it could have been made fully functional with the existing divisions of Vijayawada, Guntakal and Guntur. There was no administrative or operational necessity to bifurcate the Waltair Division, which was a vital and high-performing component of ECoR,” said CPI(M) state secretary Suresh Panigrahi.

Left parties, along with the Congress and BJD, joined the protest and later submitted a memorandum to the general manager of ECoR, addressed to railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

“The decision to bifurcate Waltair appears driven by political considerations rather than administrative logic. It reflects a shift towards a state-centric approach in structuring railway zones, departing from the principle of a unified national railway system. This is further reinforced by the transfer of the Palasa-Ichchapuram section from Khurda Road Division of ECoR to SCoR,” the memorandum said.

ECoR, established in 1996 with the Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair divisions, serves Odisha and parts of Andhra Pradesh. It has emerged as the highest revenue-generating zone of Indian Railways, backed by strong operational efficiency and low costs. The Waltair Division alone contributes nearly 60 per cent of ECoR’s total revenue.

The Opposition warned that the move would impact employment, efficiency and administrative capacity, potentially causing an annual revenue loss of around ₹10,000 crore.

They also argued that if such restructuring is pursued, it should be applied uniformly. “Railway regions in Odisha currently outside ECoR — Baleswar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Keonjhar under South Eastern Railway, and Jharsuguda under South East Central Railway — should be brought under ECoR to ensure administrative coherence, efficiency and equity,” the memorandum added.