Kottavalasa Junction railway station

Kothavalasa Junction railway station (station code: KTV) located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, serves Kothavalasa in Vizianagaram district. It is a major freight transit point with iron ore rakes travelling from mines around Kirandul and Bailadila in Chhattisgarh to Visakhapatnam Port.

Kottavalasa Junction
Junction station
Aerial view of Kottavalasa Jn.
General information
Location	Visakhapatnam–Aarku Road, Kothavalasa, Vizianagaram dt., Andhra Pradesh India
Coordinates	17°53′30″N 83°11′09″E
Elevation	56 m (184 ft)
Operated by	South Coast Railway
Line(s)	Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section of Howrah–Chennai main line Kothavalasa–Kirandul line
Platforms	5
Tracks	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on-ground station)
Parking	Available
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	KTV
Zone(s)	South Coast Railway zone
Division(s)	Visakhapatnam
History
Opened	1896; 129 years ago (1896)
Electrified	Yes
Previous names	East Coast State Railway Bengal Nagpur Railway
Location Kottavalasa Junction Location of Kottavalasa Junction Show map of Visakhapatnam Kottavalasa Junction Kottavalasa Junction (Andhra Pradesh) Show map of Andhra Pradesh Kottavalasa Junction Kottavalasa Junction (India) Show map of India

Railways around Visakhapatnam
km to Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section to Kothavalasa–Kirandul line 24 Kothavalasa 15 Pendurti 8 Simhachalam North 7 Simhachalam 6 Gopalapatnam NH 16 Marshalling yard on right lines 4 Marripalem / Visakhapatnam Airport Naval Dockyard Essar Steel Iron Ore sidings 9 Kottapalem Visakhapatnam Port - Inner harbour 0 Visakhapatnam Hindustan Zinc BHPV NH 16 Coromandel International Visakhapatnam Refinery of HPCL Visakhapatnam port channel in blue Visakhapatnam Port - Inner harbour Hindustan Shipyard Visakhapatnam Port - Outer harbour Dolphin's Nose (hill with lighthouse) Link to Bay of Bengal Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Gangavaram Port 17 Duvvada NH 16 Simhadri STPP of NTPC 27 Thadi NH 16 33 Anakapalle to Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada section

History

Between 1893 and 1896, 1,288 km (800 mi) of the East Coast State Railway was opened for traffic. In 1898–99, Bengal Nagpur Railway was linked to the lines in southern India.^[1]

In 1960, Indian Railways took up three projects: the Kothavalasa–Araku–Koraput–Jeypore–Jagdalpur–Dantewara–Kirandaul line, the Jharsuguda–Sambalpur–Bargarh–Balangir–Titlagarh Project and the Biramitrapur–Rourkela–Bimlagarh–Kiriburu Project. All the three projects taken together were popularly known as the DBK Project or the Dandakaranya Bolangir Kiriburu Project (under Dandakaranya Project).^[2] The Kothavalasa–Kirandaul line was opened in 1966–67.^[3]

Electrified

The Visakhapatnam–Kothavalasa–Araku–Koraput–Jeypore Jagdalpur–Dantewara–Kirandul section was electrified in the year 1980–83.^[4]

Railway reorganization

Kothavalasa railway station entrance

The Bengal Nagpur Railway was nationalized in 1944.^[5]Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of East Indian Railway Company east of Mughalsarai and the Bengal Nagpur Railway.^[6] In 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier.^[6][7] Amongst the new zones started in April 2003 were East Coast Railway and South East Central Railway. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway.^[6] Railway. South Coast Railway was carved out of East Coast Railway and South Central Railway on 27 feb 2019.