The North Bengal-Sikkim Railway Link, a 52.7-kilometer length of rail connecting Sevoke, West Bengal, and Rangpo, has commenced construction.
The ambitious project of including the Himalayan state of Sikkim in the Indian railway system will be finished.
As stated by the Northeast Frontier Railway GM Anshul Gupta
“The work is progressing really well,” Northeast Frontier Railway’s general manager on the project, Anshul Gupta, was quoted in a media report as saying on Friday.
The completion of the project
By the end of 2023, the railway will be completed, and we will be able to run trains to Sikkim.” The North Bengal-Sikkim Railway Link, a 52.7-kilometer section of track connecting Sevoke, West Bengal, and Rangpo, Sikkim, has commenced construction by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
What delayed the project?
Gupta said landslides in the highlands, particularly during monsoon months, delayed the project to connect Sevoke with Rangpo town on the Bengal-Sikkim border, which he visited 20 kilometres away. He also plans to visit Sikkim.
Raging stream flooded one of the tunnels
Earlier this monsoon, two significant disasters put the project on hold for a while. On June 17, two workmen were killed by a boulder. Two more employees were killed when a swollen torrent swamped one of the tunnels on July 30.
Approval of the project
The line is a wide gauge (5ft 6in) with a proposed speed limit of 65km/h. The project, which was approved in 2008, had its groundbreaking ceremony in February 2010, and the track was projected to be completed in 2020.
Sikkim linked to India’s main train network
It will be the first time Sikkim is connected to the main Indian train network once it is operational, and it is intended to increase local tourism and the region’s economy
It will be connected to Gangtok, Sikkim, in the future.
Anshul Gupta stated on Friday that the ambitious project to include the Himalayan state of Sikkim in the Indian railway map will be finished by December 2023.
Particularly during monsoon months, delayed the project to connect Sevoke with Rangpo town on the Bengal-Sikkim border, which he visited 20 kilometers away. He also plans to visit Sikkim.
Issues with land acquisition
Another issue, he claimed, was land acquisition problems.”However, work is in full motion, and we plan to complete it in a couple of years,” Gupta said.
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