The survey for laying railway lines up to Myanmar borders in Manipur’s Moreh has been completed and the project would be finished in over two years of works being formally sanctioned, Ashul Gupta, General manager of Northeast Frontier Railway informed. “As works are being sanctioned, the railway lines till Moreh will be completed in two to two and a half years”, Gupta said.

These railways would be part of the Indian Railways’ expansion in the underserved northeast region which would boost strategic needs., tourism and all-weather connectivity. Besides, the railway lines between Karimganj (India) and Shahbajpur (Bangladesh) will be completed by March 2023. Lines between Agartala (in India) and Akahaura (in Bangladesh) will be completed by 2023, the GM said. The survey for the first rail connectivity to Bhutan has also started and will be completed by March 2023. The project will be completed two years after the work is sanctioned, Gupta informed.

So far, two state capitals in the northeast India region have been connected by railways –the states Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. “Projects in another three states are in the advanced stage: in Sikkim the work will be completed till Rangpo by December 2023. In Manipur, we are aiming for the state capital connectivity to complete by December 2023”, he explained. The railway connectivity in Nagaland’s capital city of Kohima is also in progress. “There were some delays in land acquisition …and it is expected that the connectivity till capital Kohima will be functional by March 2026,” the GM added. Meghalaya, there is an issue in land acquisition due to protests by local student unions.  “The project I in Meghalaya) will be taken up once the issues related to land acquisition are solved”, Gupta said.

Source: infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com