UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Announces Gazette Notification for South Coastal Railway and Major Expansion in Andhra Pradesh

Q1. The newly notified South Coast(al) Railway zone of Indian Railways has its zonal headquarters at which one of the following cities?

  • A. Visakhapatnam
  • B. Vijayawada
  • C. Guntur
  • D. Guntakal

Q2. With reference to how the South Coast Railway zone was constituted, consider the following statements: 1. Its Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions were carved out of the erstwhile South Central Railway. 2. Its Visakhapatnam division is a renamed portion of the former Waltair division of the East Coast Railway. 3. The zone was created by merging the entire East Coast Railway zone into the South Central Railway. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Its Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions were carved out of the erstwhile South Central Railway.
  2. Its Visakhapatnam division is a renamed portion of the former Waltair division of the East Coast Railway.
  3. The zone was created by merging the entire East Coast Railway zone into the South Central Railway.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. How many divisions constitute the South Coast Railway zone as notified with effect from 1 June 2026?

  • A. Three
  • B. Four
  • C. Five
  • D. Six

Q4. The Gazette Notification creating the South Coast Railway zone was issued by which one of the following Union ministries?

  • A. Ministry of Railways
  • B. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
  • C. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
  • D. Ministry of Heavy Industries

Q5. In the 2026 announcement, the upgradation of the East Coast Railway corridor into a 'four-line network' most precisely refers to which one of the following?

  • A. Laying additional tracks so that the corridor has four parallel running lines (quadrupling) to roughly double capacity
  • B. Electrifying four separate corridors of Andhra Pradesh simultaneously
  • C. Converting metre-gauge lines into four broad-gauge routes
  • D. Constructing four new dedicated freight corridors across the state

Q6. Which of the following are divisions of the South Coast Railway zone? 1. Guntakal 2. Guntur 3. Vijayawada 4. Visakhapatnam Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Guntakal
  2. Guntur
  3. Vijayawada
  4. Visakhapatnam
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q7. The commitment to create a new railway zone for the residual State of Andhra Pradesh, later fulfilled by the South Coast Railway zone, was made under which one of the following?

  • A. Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014
  • B. Railways Act, 1989
  • C. States Reorganisation Act, 1956
  • D. Indian Railway Board Act, 1905