Dimapur — Northeastern Frontier Railways (NFR) on Tuesday informed that the construction of a new broad gauge railway line from Dimapur to Kohima in Nagaland is going on in full swing and would soon bring the Nagaland capital city Kohima onto the broad gauge railway map of the country.
An update from the chief PRO of NFR, Sabyasachi De, stated that the 82.50 km long Dimapur-Kohima new railway line project, which takes off from the Dhansiri station in Assam to Zubza in Kohima, is being undertaken by NFR construction organisation at an anticipated cost of INR. 6,663 crore.
The total length of project is 82.5 km (2.75 km in Assam and 79.75 km in Nagaland) having eight new stations including Dhansiri, Dhansiripar, Shokhuvi, Molvom, Pherima, Piphema, Menguzuma and Zubza.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]The project included 24 major bridges, 156 minor bridges, six road over bridges, 15 road under bridges and 21 tunnels of 31 km length. The tunnel no. 7 between Pherima to Piphema is the longest tunnel of the project which is 6520 metre.
It mentioned that the project is divided into three phases for ease of commissioning and the first phase of 16.5 km from Dhansiri to Shokhuvi has been already completed in October, 2021.
“Passenger train services from Shokhuvi to Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh and Mendipathar in Meghalaya have been introduced recently to enhance intra-regional rail connectivity to various northeast states,” NFR stated.
The next phase from Shokhuvi to Pherima is likely to be completed very soon and the complete project up to Zubza is targeted to be completed by 2026, it stated.
“The new rail connectivity will also help in transportation of food grains and other infrastructural items to the state at a much cheaper cost from other parts of the country benefitting local people. Economy of the state will receive a boost,” it added.