Guwahati, Aug 28: The Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer, Sabyasachi De, said on Saturday that the North-East will have its first international cross-border railway connectivity very soon.
De informed that for the overall development of railway infrastructure, an amount of Rs 1.20 lakh crore has been earmarked for connecting the hilly and border areas.
“Our focus is mainly the Indo-China border. We are also focusing on Myanmar; the Imphal-Moreh line has been given preliminary approval,” he said.
The Sairang-Hbichhuah railway line, which is south of Mizoram and connects the Kaladan Multimodal Project, has also been given approval. The Kokrajhar-Gelephu railway line connects Bhutan. In a very short period of time, the Agartala-Akhaura railway project will also be commissioned. The North East will have its first international cross-border railway connectivity very soon.
De said, “Lots of cross-border projects are also there—the Mahisasan zero point in Assam. Our focus is mainly to connect all the border areas and also to increase trade through these international neighbours that we have. Sairang-Hbichhuah railway project that will give us a gateway to the Sittwe Port in Myanmar.”
He that the most important projects that are going on in the North East are state capital connectivity projects – we are trying to connect Sikkim, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland.
“We have connected all remaining states of the North East. Apart from that, we have some new line sections like Murkongselek-Pasighat. That is a project that does not connect a state capital, but yes, it is an extension of the railway line, which used to end at Assam’s Murkongselek, but now it will go to Pasighat in Arunachal,” the CPRO stated.
He further added, “We have an investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore currently in this financial year for the completion of projects, and this is a huge value and huge amount, and focus has been given to railway development in the North East.”
De informed that maintenance infrastructure works are also going on with an investment of around Rs 230–240 crore in New Guwahati itself for the creation of a mega coaching complex.
“Electrification works are almost completed, most of the sections have been electrified – Meghalaya (Mendipathar) has been electrified…Slowly, most probably, within this financial year, the whole North East will get electrified,” De informed.
