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.
IND vs WI 3rd ODI: India set a target of 266 runs for West Indies, Iyer and Pant hit half-centuries
India vs West Indies 3rd ODI, Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad: In the third and final match of th
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia for using obscene language
Asaduddin Owaisi compared hijab with vermilion and mangalsutra, said - Allah's decree in the Quran
The judges of the Supreme Court were divided on Thursday regarding the ban on hijab and now the m
Tesla and SpaceX owner and world's top industrialist Elon Musk is scheduled to hold a meeting wit
Rain interrupts Proteas-Lanka quarter-final
Sydney, March 18 (IANS) Rain halted the first cricket World Cup quarter-final with Sri Lanka ba
America continues to stand firmly with Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. The White House sa
Neeraj Chopra won the men's javelin throw event with a throw of 88.67m at the Doha Diamond League
The New Development Bank (NDB) created by the BRICS countries has taken a big step during the Ukr
The Indian ODI team will depart for Australia from Delhi on October 15th in two groups, and the f
School days are very special for any child. If there is a beating from the teacher, then the prai
