One of many 45 tunnels on the brand new railway line.
The newly constructed Sairang station close to Aizawl in Mizoram.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the ₹8,071 crore, 51.38-kilometre railway line linking Bairabi station to the newly constructed Sairang station — situated about 20 km from Mizoram’s capital Aizawl — it can mark a serious milestone for the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). It additionally alerts the Indian authorities’s broader plan to increase railway connectivity all the best way to the Myanmar border.
The last word goal is to attach the Northeast States with Kolkata Port by way of the Bay of Bengal, utilizing the Sittwe Port in Myanmar, constructed by India, for each strategic and financial causes. This may additionally assist cut back the transport burden on the Siliguri hall. Whereas the brand new railway line to Aizawl is a part of the Centre’s Capital Connectivity Undertaking, a remaining survey is underway for a proposed 223-kilometre extension from Sairang — at present the final cease on the Indian Railways community — to Hbichhuah, close to the Myanmar border.
Railway officers stated the survey entails a fancy LiDAR mapping train carried out by way of helicopters over dense forests and mountainous terrain. As soon as accomplished, the proposal will probably be submitted to the Railway Board for approval. The ocean route from Kolkata to Sittwe spans roughly 540 kilometres, in comparison with practically 2,000 kilometres by highway. The plan is to maneuver items by sea to Sittwe, after which onward by highway and river by the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Undertaking — funded by India — to succeed in Mizoram and different Northeastern States extra shortly and sustainably.
At the moment, highway transport from Kolkata to the Northeast can stretch as much as 1,500 kilometres, with Silchar in Assam alone being 200 kilometres away. The newly opened railway line considerably reduces journey time and provides an all-weather various to the two-lane freeway, which is liable to landslides and heavy rainfall.
The Mizoram capital hyperlink mission, which incorporates 4 new stations — Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang, and Sairang — was proposed within the late Nineties, acquired approvals a decade later, and started development in 2014. “There have been a number of challenges as a result of terrain and local weather, as solely 4 months — November to March — are appropriate for development. It rains till September, and we wanted to restore roads in October,” stated NFR Public Relations Officer Nilanjan Deb throughout a web site go to.
“We needed to construct 200 kilometres of roads simply to succeed in the development websites by rock and slush. Work needed to be carried out around the clock throughout the four-month window. All the pieces — from stones, sand, equipment and development labour from Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, and so forth., — needed to be transported from Kolkata and different locations,” he added.
Tragic incidents
There have been tragic incidents, together with the demise of 26 staff when a bridge phase collapsed throughout development two years in the past. “Initially, the native individuals had been apprehensive, however later they prolonged full cooperation. The one concern we confronted was that labourers had been unwilling to remain lengthy resulting from poor cell connectivity. Those that went house for a break by no means returned. So, we got here up with the thought of rotating labour each few months,” stated Mr. Deb.
Deep reducing into the hills — as much as 65 metres — together with measures to guard the excessive alignment from landslides and using ballastless tracks in tunnels, pushed development prices to ₹157 crore per kilometre, in comparison with the same old ₹10–12 crore for laying new railway strains. All constructions needed to be earthquake-resistant as a result of area’s fragile geography.
The brand new line was constructed by tunneling by 12.85 kilometres of mountainous terrain, leading to 45 tunnels — the longest being about 1.87 kilometres. A complete of 153 bridges had been constructed, together with 55 main bridges, with the longest measuring about 1.3 kilometres and the tallest rising roughly 114 metres from the bottom. The Krung Bridge at Sairang, notably taller than the Qutub Minar, is a spotlight. Moreover, 88 minor bridges, 5 highway overbridges, and 6 highway underbridges had been constructed.
The railway hyperlink is invaluable for native residents, reducing journey time by half. What as soon as took as much as 10 hours by highway from Silchar or a number of hours from Kolkata can now be accomplished a lot sooner. The railway provides a dependable various to the winding two-lane freeway and is anticipated to spice up financial alternatives, stated SCR Chief Public Relations Officer A. Sridhar.
Three trains introduced
Following the Prime Minister’s inauguration, the railways have introduced three trains alongside the route: a every day prepare to Guwahati (12 hours), a thrice-a-week prepare to Kolkata (31 hours), and a weekly Rajdhani Specific to New Delhi (42 hours), beginning later this month. Electrification work on the route is anticipated to be accomplished by December. Till then, trains will function utilizing a mixture of electrical and diesel locomotives.
To advertise tourism, the Mizoram authorities and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Company Ltd. (IRCTC) have signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding to run particular vacationer trains beneath the “Uncover NE Past Guwahati” initiative.
In the meantime, NFR can be engaged on new railway strains throughout the area, tunnelling by lush inexperienced mountains, bridging deep gorges, and crossing quite a few water our bodies. Initiatives embrace the 111-kilometre line to Imphal in Manipur, the 88-kilometre line to Kohima in Nagaland, and the 45-kilometre line in Meghalaya—all anticipated to be accomplished within the coming years.
Printed – September 12, 2025 10:53 pm IST
