Railways to connect all northeastern state capitals by 2020


Posted on 17th Mar 2015 11:31 am by mohit kumar

Silchar (Assam), March 16 (IANS) The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which is building rail infrastructure in the region, has targeted to connect all its eight state capitals by 2020, a senior official has said.

"We would connect all the state capitals of the eight northeastern states by railway link within 2020," NFR general manager (construction) Rakesh Kumar Singh told reporters here.

He said: "Mizoram capital Aizawl and Manipur capital Imphal would be connected by railway network by 2018 and 2019 respectively. The capitals of the remaining states would be linked by 2020 and the works are on to achieve the target."

Tripura's capital Agartala already connected by railway networks, even though line between Assam's Silchar-Agartala is meter gauge.

Agartala came up on the country's rail map in 2008. Currently, northeastern states have around 2,700 km railway line comprising meter gauge and broad gauge (BG) lines, officials said.

Singh, who was leading a 45-member NFR team, arrived in Silchar railway station from Guwahati on Sunday afternoon with the first nine-bogie railway trial inspection train, which left for Guwahati on Monday.

On Friday, the team said it successfully carried out trial run of a diesel engine from Lumding to Silchar on the newly-converted broad gauge (BG) line. The regular train service on the new BG line would be conducted from April after the clearance of Railway Safety Commissioner.

The total length of Lumding-Silchar BG line is 220 km and it consists of 17 tunnels (with longest one being 3.235 km long), 79 major bridges, 340 minor bridges, 28 railway stations and four halt stations.

The NFR general manager (construction) said now the Silchar-Agartala railway track would be converted from meter gauge to BG by March next year.

The foundation of the much-delayed gauge conversion project -- Lumding to Silchar and Silchar to Agartala -- was laid by the then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda in Silchar in 1996.

In 2004, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh declared the project a national one.

The railways faced severe criticism for the delay in completing the Rs.5,185-crore project that is considered to be a lifeline for southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, during his budget speech in the parliament on February 26, said the Indian Railways was committed to provide rail connectivity to all the northeastern states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Nov 29, 2014 flagged off a train between Meghalaya's Mendipathar and Guwahati, a distance of 131 km, and laid the foundation stone for a 51.38 km-long new broad gauge railway line between Bhairabi and Sairang in Mizoram.

On February 20, Modi flag off the first weekly air-conditioned express train service between Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh in Itanagar.



 

Did you know?Explore Trending and Topic pages for more stories like this.
0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

Delhi Water Crisis: The water level in the Yamuna decreased, and people in more than 30 areas of Delhi faced problems

The water level of Yamuna in Delhi's Wazirabad has remained low for the last few days, causing wa

West Bengal Politics: Know, where will Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee contest the assembly by-elections, the current MLA has accepted, approved

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest again in the next six months. This time s

UGC: Gift to professionals, you are not able to do PhD due to job, then this news is of your work

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has given a big relief to the professionals who are unable

Bharat Jodo Yatra: 'Celebs got money for Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra', Pooja Bhatt gave this befitting reply

Pooja Bhatt: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' has become a topic of discussion

Cryptocurrency: Green in the NFT market, Bitcoin is up five percent, and Ethereum also up three percent

The cryptocurrency market is showing slight gains. Bitcoin, the world's largest digital token, is

Yogi government also opposed Ashish Mishra's bail in Supreme Court, also gave reason

The UP government has opposed in the Supreme Court the bail of Ashish Mishra, accused of crushing

Twisha Sharma Death Case: 'My Daughter Deserves Justice'—Twisha's Parents Pour Out Their Anguish, Stating: "She Was Murdered."

The case surrounding the suspicious death of Noida resident Twisha Sharma is gaining increasing m

The Sabarmati Report Box Office Collection Day 1: 'The Sabarmati Report' has a slow opening at the box office, see the film's first-day collection

Vikrant Massey starrer film 'The Sabarmati Report' has been released. The film hit the theatres o

Kushinagar Tragedy: Announcement of compensation of Rs 4-4 lakh to the families of the dead in the Kushinagar accident, free treatment of the injured

Kushinagar Tragedy: The death toll in the accident in Naurangiya Tola village of Kushinagar, Utta

iPhone 12 may be launched on this day, four new iPhones can be introduced under the series

San Francisco: Apple can launch its most awaited series iPhone 12 on 13 October. According to a r

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash