Mizoram: Work On Rail Connectivity To State Capital Aizawl On Fast Track, Set For Completion By 2023

In a major step towards expanding rail connectivity in the Northeast, the work on Bairabi-Sairang rail line project is about to get completed.

The 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang Rail Line Project has achieved 82 per cent completion till 30 November 2022, informed the Ministry of Railways.

This project has been accorded the status of “Project of National Importance” and will provide seamless connectivity to Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl, with the rest of the country.

First BG Train In 2016

Mizoram, one of the seven sister states of Northeast, is the southernmost landlocked state in the region sharing domestic borders with the states of Assam, Tripura and Manipur and international borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Railways saw the light of the day in Mizoram when the Broad Gauge (BG) train chugged into Mizoram on 27 May, 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi lagged off Silchar-Bairabi daily passenger train.

This was done by converting the already existing Silchar-Bairabi meter gauge railway system to broad gauge.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) currently runs passenger train services between Silchar in Assam and Bairabi in Mizoram to serve local passengers.

Status Update

Towards its mission to provide BG connectivity to capital cities of all states of the North-East region, the Northeast Frontier Railway is executing the Bairabi-Sairang rail project to connect Aizawl (capital of Mizoram).

From Bairabi there will be four stations namely, Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang, which is about 20 km from Aizawl.

This project includes construction of four new stations and 12.6 km of tunnelling work. There will be 55 major bridges, 87 minor bridges and 11 Road Over Bridges/Road Under Bridges on this stretch.

The Bairabi-Sairang project was sanctioned in 2008-09. The foundation stone of this project was laid down on 29 November 2014 and is targeted to be completed by December 2023.

The initial cost of the project was estimated at Rs 2,384 crore, which was later revised to Rs 5,021.45 crore. Till last year an amount of Rs 3,763.63 crore have already been spent for executing the project.

Survey for New Lines

Indian Railways have completed the survey work for two new BG Railway lines in the state.

A 43.15-km-long rail link between Patharkandi in Assam and Kanhmun in Mizoram will provide one more entry to Mizoram apart from the existing station of Bairabi. The proposed line will have a length of 1.86 km in Mizoram and 41.29 km in Assam.

The other survey is a 266-km-long rail link between Sairang and Hbichhuah, which will be an extension to Bairabi-Sairang line. The project is strategically important to connect Northeast India with the under construction Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar under the Act East Policy.

As part of the Railways policy for 100 per cent electrification, all routes coming up in Mizoram will also be electrified.

After the completion of all the new line projects and infrastructural development work, connectivity to and within Mizoram will get a major boost. International connectivity between India and Myanmar will also gather a new momentum.