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.



 

0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

Pakistan Crisis: Hearing on Pakistan's political upheaval in the Supreme Court, Shah Mehmood Qureshi dismissed the allegations of opposition

The hearing in the Supreme Court on the ongoing political turmoil in Pakistan continues for the f

Rain, snowfall, and cold winds continue Cold winter in Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan, Mumbai also gets cold; Rain expected in 7 states

Cold weather continues in North India. People are troubled by heavy snowfall in the hilly areas,

Omicron Variant: Scientists have taken out the break, in this way you can control Omicron

The threat of Omicron variants of the corona is increasing rapidly around the world. In America,

Lal Kuan is the new epicentre of migrant exodus from Delhi

आधिकारिक तौर पर कहा गया है कि दिल्ली

CM Arvind Kejriwal told me what are the 3 pillars of AAP's ideology?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while speaking in the Delhi Assembly, said that for the fir

Dengue Case In UP: Dengue havoc in UP, more than seven and a half thousand patients came in front, deaths due to high fever

Dengue Case In UP The number of dengue patients is increasing continuously in the state. Seven an

Twitter made a big mistake, told Jammu and Kashmir, part of China, not yet apologized

Twitter hit the target on Sunday when it declared Jammu and Kashmir as part of China. Twitter mad

Weather Update: Winter is over in North India! Mercury started rising in many states; Know the latest updates from the Meteorological Department

The weather pattern has started changing in many states of North India. After packing the quilts,

Bird flu risk among Corona: 4.85 lakh birds died in 10 days in the country, infection spread in 4 states including MP and Rajasthan

The effect of corona is decreasing in the country, but the effect of bird flu is increasing in ma

Big disclosure in Sidhu Moosewala murder case: Wires related to the infamous gangster Arun Gawli gang of Maharashtra, sharpshooter Santosh Jadhav his henchman

The strings of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala's murder case have been linked to the infamous gang

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