Railways Sets August 2025 Deadline For Rail Line To Sikkim, Beset By Hurdles

Indian Railways has set a new deadline of August 2025 for the Sivok – Rangpo new rail link project, which will bring Sikkim under the Indian Railways network.

Till now, Sikkim has relied solely on NH10 for land connectivity with the rest of India. The 45-km-long Broad-Gauge project will mark the first-ever railway line in the Himalayan State.

Starting from Sivok in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, the rail line passes through Kalimpong district of West Bengal before reaching Rangpo in Sikkim’s Pakyong district.

Running across challenging terrain in the foothills of the Kanchenjunga mountain range, the line parallels NH10 and the Teesta river.

It features 14 tunnels, 13 major bridges, nine minor bridges, and five railway stations: Sivok, Riyang, Teesta Bazar, Melli, and Rangpo. The longest tunnel (T-10) spans 5.3 km, and the longest bridge (Br-17) stretches 425 metres.

The most demanding aspect of the project is that 86 per cent (about 38.65 km) of the rail line passes through tunnels, with five per cent over bridges, and only nine per cent under the open sky.

Currently, the final lining has been completed in tunnels T-14 and T-09, and work is ongoing in tunnels T-02, T-03, T-05, T-06, T-07, T-10, T-11, and T-12, with 10.89 km of lining finished.

At present final lining has been completed in tunnel T-14 and T-09 and is under progress in tunnels T-02, T-03, T-05, T-06, T-07, T-10, T-11 and T-12. A total of 10.89 km of lining has been completed.

Out of the 13 major bridges, 12 have their substructures ready. The Northeast Frontier (NEF) Railway, overseeing the project, plans to start laying rail tracks from the end of May, beginning at Tunnel 14 in Rangpo.

Construction of the rail line, started in 2009 when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the Railway Minister. It was initially scheduled to be completed by 2015 but has been facing challenges due to delays in land acquisition and forest clearances.

Significant progress was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Railways and West Bengal government officials in early 2021. Initially targeted for completion by December 2023, the project faced setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to September 2020 and December 2020 to February 2021.