North East state capitals to get broad-gauge rail link by 2020

All the state capitals of the northeast, as per the vision document of the Indian Railways, would be connected by broad-gauge rail link by 2020, the General Manager of Construction Wing of Northeast Frontier Railway, N K Prasad, said here Friday.

Prasad said this while taking part in the monthly Inter Media Publicity Coordination Committee (IMPCC) meeting at the North East Frontier Railway (NF Railway) office in Guwahati, a PIB release said.

Apart from completing the broad-gauge link by 2020, NF's another goal is conversion of the meter-gauge lines to broad-gauge lines to provide faster connectivity, the PIB release quoted Prasad as saying.

A total number of 43 projects are underway within the jurisdiction of the NF Railway, the release said.

Out of the 43 projects, 14 projects have been completed, three projects are waiting for clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), and four projects are at the initial stage of planning, it said.

The various developmental activities of railways in all the eight states of the region and said that Assam and Meghalaya will be connected through the Byrnihat-Shillong line, the release said.

Manipur will be connected to Jiribam, the release said, adding, a bridge with a pier height of 141 metre, which will be the tallest rail bridge in the world, is also under construction under the Jiribam-Imphal new project.