Rs 27,000 crore of capital investment made by Indian Railways in North East Projects during last 6 years

During the last 6 years, Rs 27,655 crore of Capital Investment was made by Indian Railways in North East Projects which is 160% more than the capital investment of Rs 10,610 made during 2009-14. The major projects that were completed during the last 6 years are:

  • Bogibeel Rail cum Road Bridge: 5 km Bogibeel Rail cum Road Bridge across river Brahmaputra commissioned and dedicated to the Nation by Hon’ble Prime Minister in December 2018. The bridge has brought North and South Assam closer together like never before by shortening rail travel distance between Naharlagun (Itanagar) and Dibrugarh by more than 700 km, thereby reducing travelling time from 24 to 5 hours. The Road distance between Dibrugarh and Itanagar also reduced by more than 100 km.
  • Barak Valley of Assam connected with Broad Gauge (BG) rail network in Nov 2015 with completion of Gauge conversion work of Lumding – Silchar section.
  • 503 Km Gauge Conversion project between Rangiya – Murkongselek passing through the north bank of Brahmaputra fully completed and commissioned for Train services o­n 10.08.2015.

  • 4 States connected with Broad Gauge rail network
    • Meghalaya in Nov, 2014 with 20 Km long new line from Dudhnoi to Mendipather.
    • Manipur in May 2016 connected at Jiribam for Passenger Services.
    • Mizoram in May 2016 connected at Bhairabi for Passenger Services.
    • Tripura in May 2016
  • Capital City of Arunachal Pradesh connected with New Delhi through direct train service o­n 20.02.2015.

Connectivity to the North Eastern States:

  • Entire Rail network of North-eastern States converted to Broad Gauge. A total of 972 Kms converted in three years (2014-17).
  • All North-eastern States (except Sikkim) connected by Rail network; Sikkim to be connected by December 2022.
  • While Capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected; others state Capitals will be connected as per the targets decided as below: 

Name of Projects and Target Date of Completion:

  • Jiribam – Imphal (111 km) by March 2022
  • Bhairabi – Sairang (51 km) by March 2023
  • Dimapur – Kohima (82 km) by March 2023
  • Teteliya – Byrnihat (22 km) by March 2022
  • Sivok – Rangpo (44 km) by Dec 2022

The major thrust given in developing Rail infrastructure in the North East has provided direct connectivity of the North Eastern states to the rest of India and it will have a great impact o­n the socio- economic development of the region.


Source: North East Frontier Railway-Press Release