The East Coast Railway (abbreviated as ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. It came into existence on 01-April-2003. It headquarters are located at .

History

Consequent upon the parliament's approval, East Coast Railway was the first of the seven new zones to be inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda on 8 August 1996. The Officer-on-Special Duty took charge of the newly declared Zone on 16 September 1996. Initially, only one division namely Khurda Road was attached to this railway. The zone became fully operational on 1 April 2003. The Waltair division was notified to be bifurcated from the East Coast Railway zone on 27 February 2019. The Odisha section of Waltair division will constitute the new Rayagada division, while the Andhra Pradesh section will be a part of the South Coast Railway zone upon operationalization.

Divisions

The geographical jurisdiction of East Coast Railway zone extends over three states encompassing almost all of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and Bastar, Mahasamund and Dantewada districts of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

and a minor part Palasa, Sompeta and seven other stations of Srikakulam district in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. The zonal headquarters is at

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

in Odisha. The zone has three divisions: Sambalpur, Khurda and Rayagada. The Rayagada railway division was proposed to succeed a section of the former Waltair division which will remain in the East Coast Railway zone upon bifurcation. The foundation stone for the zone was laid on 6 January 2025, with the demarcation of the zone finalised on 7 February 2025.

Electrification

As of 31 December 2021, it is one of the three 100% electric railway zones in India. The East Coast Railway line integrated with the commissioned Howrah-Chennai electrified trunk route on 29 November 2005. There was a missing link between Kharagpur and

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

stations and all trains from Howrah towards Chennai side had to undergo a locomotive change from electric to diesel at Kharagpur and vice versa at Visakhapatnam in order to pass through Odisha. Even trains from New Delhi such as the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani had to undergo the change at Kharagpur. This frequent loco change on a trunk route became a time-consuming and inconvenient process. With electrification along the 765 km Kharagpur-Visakhapatnam stretch, trains got speeded up and the need for double headed diesels for high speed express trains was eliminated thus saving on diesel consumption and a cleaner travel. Additionally the line branching off Khurda road towards Puri was also electrified. Gradually the Cuttack-Angul line, Cuttack-Paradeep line and branch line from Jakhapura towards Barbil got electrified too.

Major railway stations

The major railway stations in the entire zone are

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

, Chatrapur,

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

, Sambalpur, Khurda Road, Balugaon, Rayagada, Brahmapur,

Angul Angul (also known as Anugul) is a city, municipality and the headquarters of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. Angul has an average elevation of above sea level and total area of 6232 km2. Geography Angul is located at . I ...

, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak, Balangir, Bargarh, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Titilagarh, Kesinga, Lanjigarh, Koraput, Mahasamund, Jagdalpur, Kendujhargarh, Palasa, Nayagarh Town and Barbil. Most of the major stations fall in the state of

Gallery

Rail infrastructure

* Carriage Repair Workshop – Mancheswar, Bhubaneswar * MEMU Shed – Khurda Road

Routes

East Coast Railway zone has about 273 railway stations with a track length of 5214 km spread as follows:-

Railway lines

ECoR zone has below tracks. All are

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

. The sections are:- # Bhadrak-

- Khurda Road- Double Electrified BG line 2 Railway stations# Talcher-

Double Electrified BG line 1 Railway stations # Titlagarh Junction- Mahasamund Single Electrified BG line 5 Railway stations(Electric doubling of this line is currently underway) #

- Paradip Double Electrified BG line 0 Railway stations# Khurda road-

Double Electrified BG line 1 Railway stations# Sambalpur Junction- Talcher Single Electrified BG line 6 Railway stationsElectric doubling of this line is currently underway) # Titlagarh Junction- Sambalpur Junction Single Electrified BG line 6 Railway stations(Electric doubling of this line is currently underway) # Sambalpur Junction- Jharsuguda Junction Double Electrified BG line 0 Railway stations # Rayagada- Koraput Single Electric BG line 5 Railway stations# Naupada Junction- Gunupur Single Diesel BG line 4 Railway stations# Jakhapura Junction- Banspani Single Electrified BG line 7 Railway stations(Electric doubling of this line is currently underway)

Loco sheds

Electric Loco Shed, Angul Electric Loco Shed, Angul is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Angul of the East Coast Railway zone in Odisha, India. It is one of the two elec ...

External links

East Coast Railway Official Website

Khurda Road Division

Sambalpur Division

References

{{Railways in Eastern India Zones of Indian Railways Rail transport in Odisha Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Chhattisgarh 2003 establishments in India