Railways is working continuously to connect Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal as well as the capitals of the northeastern states of the country with rail service. Anshul Gupta (GM, NF Railway) said that the work is continuing on a war footing to enhance rail connectivity in this area. It is expected that this work will be completed in the next 2-3 years. He said that rail connectivity is a major force for the economic development of any region.
Anshul Gupta said that all the work of expansion of railways in the Northeast is being done under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. There is already rail connectivity to the capitals of Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Whereas in the remaining three states, the work of connecting the capitals with rail connectivity is going on fast. It is expected that by December 2023, the work of construction of rail track till Rangpo in Sikkim will be completed. While the Sairang railway line project in Mizoram will also be completed by December 2023.
Anshul Gupta said that the Railway Department is aiming to complete connectivity to the state capital in Manipur by December 2023. As far as connecting Kohima with rail connectivity in Nagaland is concerned, work is going on on a war footing. He said that therefore only Meghalaya would have the facility of rail connectivity to all the state capitals of the northeastern states except Shillong. Because there are some issues related to land acquisition left. It is expected that this work will be completed in the next 2-3 years. It is worth noting that the rail connectivity in the northeastern states is very less as compared to other parts of the country. This is due to its geographical conditions as well as economic backwardness.
