LUMDING -SILCHAR 'BROAD GAUGE' RAILWAY LINE

LUMDING -SILCHAR 'BROAD GAUGE' RAILWAY LINE

RAILWAYS MOVES FURTHER UP THE NORTH-EAST; LUMDING -SILCHAR 'BROAD GAUGE' RAILWAY LINE BECOMES OPERATIONAL 

India is still moving towards boasting a 100 percent rail connectivity.

Railway took another step in that direction with opening of a 210-km long new line in the North- East connecting Lumding to Silchar over a broad guage network.

The region makes its debut on the Railway Map with flagging off a goods train while the Passenger Services will follow soon.

The new line will boost connectivity in the North-Eastern Region and work as Lifeline for Bark Valley in Assam and the States of Tripura, Manipur & Mizoram. 

These parts are dependent on this line for supply of food grains, fertilisers and petroleum products among other goods. 

KEY POINTS:

Lumding-Silchar section is Phase-1 of the two phase broad gauge line project in this area.

Phase-I provides seamless Broad Guage connectivity to Barak Valley of Assam with the rest of the country.

This Rs 3500 Crore national project is not short of an engneering marvel overcoming difficult hilly terrain, geologially unstable hills and difficult law & order challenges to get through.

It passes through 21 tunnels and have 75 major bridges and 340 minor bridges along the track.

The project - sanctioned in 1996-97 - was declared a National Project in 2004.

FUTURE EXPANSION:

The completion of Phase - II (likely by March, 2016) will put states of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Broad Gauge Railway Map as well.

The phase-II consists of gauge conversion of three sections namely;

 Badarpur – Kumarghat, Baraigram - Dullabcherra and Silchar-Jiribam.