NE state capitals to be connected by rail network by 2023, says Railway Board

Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 18 (EMN): Kohima and the capitals of all the north-eastern states are to be connected by rail network by 2023, according to a Railway Board official.

The Dimapur-Kohima railway connectivity project with a total length of 82 km is also expected to be completed by March 2023.

“We are implementing a project to connect all the capitals of north-eastern states,” said Vinod Kumar Yadav, Railway Board Chairman.

The board chairman stated this during a virtual interaction with media persons on July 17, on various initiatives taken up for infrastructure development of Indian railways.

Except for Sikkim, all the seven north-eastern states are connected by railway network including Nagaland’s Dimapur.

The capitals of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura are already connected with rail network.

As for Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, the rail connectivity work is in progress, he added.

While giving target date of completion (TDC) of rail network in these places, the chairman indicated that Manipur and Meghalaya will be connected with rail network in March 2022, Mizoram and Nagaland in March 2023, and Sikkim in December 2022.

“By 2023, all these capitals in north-eastern states will be connected,” Yadav said.

These railway projects are “very important,” and they have been “really focused” in the last five years, Yadav said. He added that the work would progress in full swing in the next three years.

The chairman further stated that the entire rail network of north-eastern states was converted to broad gauge-972 km converted in three years (2014-2017).

The infrastructure development and the modernisation network is the most important thing of which the board has been focusing on for the last five years. “In the next three to four years, we should be able to enhance our network capacity,” he added.