The Waltair Division is commemorating the completion of 125 years of the passage of the first goods and passenger trains through Waltair station (now Visakhapatnam junction) on July 15 and August 21, 1893 respectively.
A commemorative coin, issued by the RBI, and a special postal cover, will be released at an official function, being organised by the railways at AU Convention Hall of Andhra University on ;the Beach Road on November 24.
Waltair Division, headquartered in Visakhapatnam city, is one among the five highest-earning railway divisions in the country. The jurisdiction of the division, which is presently under the East Coast Railway (ECoR) Zone, extends over three States -- Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
The English East India Company, which brought Railways to India, first started their rail projects at three major ports – Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
The first train in India was operated from Boribundar to Thane on April 18, 1853, followed by the second train from Howrah to Hoogly on August 15, 1854 and the third from Royapuram to Wallajah Road on July 1, 1856.
Connecting the ports
The erstwhile British India Government planned to connect the three major ports with rest of the country for easier, quicker and cheaper movement of goods for export and import. Visakhapatnam was identified as a major junction midway between Calcutta and Madras on the east coast.
A railway line had to be laid between Tadepalli on the south bank of the River Krishna and Barang near Cuttack in the north.
A company was formed in 1888, in the name of ‘East Coast State Railway’, which was fully owned by the government, for undertaking construction of this stretch and the work was sanctioned in July 1890, says Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul, a history enthusiast, who has gathered a lot of information on the history of the railways.
The Railways in Visakhapatnam was under East Coast State Railway, Madras and Southern Maharatta Railway, Eastern Railway, Bengal Nagpur Railway and South Eastern Railway at different periods of time, till it was brought under the present East Coast Zonal Railway in 2003.
Origin of Waltair
‘Waltair’ is not an English name but was derived out of the Telugu local dialect, meaning a sloped stream. ‘Valu + eru’ = ‘Valtheru’ in Telugu, which was pronounced as ‘Waltair’ in English, says Mr. Paul and hopes that the name of Waltair Division would be continued even after formation of the proposed new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters.
Cultural events
A series of events have been planned to mark the occasion.
General Manager of East Coast Railway Umesh Singh will be the chief guest. VPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu, Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha and Collector Praveen Kumar will participate as guests at the celebrations.
The inaugural session will begin at 5 p.m. and it will be followed by cultural programmes. Playback singer and music director Hemachandra and party and Sravana Bhargavi, a dubbing artiste, and others will entertain the audience.