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.
Multi Variant Covid-19 Vaccine, the delta variant of the coronavirus has become a cause of concer
The second day of the Delhi Assembly session will begin with the address of the Lieutenant Govern
International Flights To Resume: There is good news for air travelers going abroad on the occasio
Rahul Gandhi Foreign Visit: Rahul Gandhi again left for abroad, will return on July 17
Former Congress President and Wayanad Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi once again left for a foreign tri
275 people have died in the train accident in Balasore, Odisha. Whereas, 1100 people were injured
Recently, the murder of two Spanish sisters of Pakistani origin Uruz Abbas (21 years old) and Ani
India may get the fourth corona vaccine, Pfizer is in talks to approve the vaccine
India may get the fourth corona vaccine to fight against the coronavirus in the country. Pfizer,
Agra, March 20 (IANS) The Chambal river has risen menacingly following heavy rains, officials an
The number of corona patients in the country has crossed 43 lakhs. In the last 24 hours, 89 thous
CUET UG: Technical flaws in CUET are not a setback, no hurry to merge JEE and NEET - UGC Chairman
According to UGC chairman Jagdish Kumar, technical glitches in the initial stages of the Common U
