HT Digital
AIZAWL, MAY 3: The long-awaited Bairabi-Sairang broad gauge railway line, set to connect Mizoram with the rest of India’s railway network, is slated for commissioning in July this year, according to officials from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
This 51.38-km project, sanctioned during 2008–2009, is part of the Centre’s Act East policy, aimed at enhancing connectivity and economic integration in the Northeast.
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Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer of the NFR, confirmed that the railway line has been fully completed and is ready for commissioning. Trial runs were successfully conducted over two days—Wednesday and Thursday—while safety inspections by railway officials are currently underway to ensure operational readiness.
The Bairabi-Sairang railway line is significant as it will bring Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl, within the country’s railway grid for the first time. Built at a revised cost of over ₹8,200 crore, construction of the project officially began in 2015.
The project posed significant engineering challenges, passing through difficult terrain that required the construction of 55 major and 87 minor bridges, 32 tunnels (totalling 12.65 km), 15 cut-and-cover tunnels, five road overbridges, six underpasses, and four passenger stations—Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang, and Sairang.
Officials also revealed that a feasibility survey has been conducted to potentially extend the railway line to Mizoram’s southernmost Lawngtlai district, near the Myanmar border, to further boost cross-border connectivity.
Meanwhile, North Eastern Railway General Manager (Construction), Arun Kumar Chaudhary, met with Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Friday to discuss key infrastructure developments, including progress at Bairabi railway station, the approach road to Mualkhang, and ongoing construction at Sairang station.
According to sources from the Chief Minister’s Office, Chaudhary informed the CM that the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) is expected to carry out a final inspection in early June. If approved, the formal inauguration of the Bairabi-Sairang line is likely to take place shortly after June 17.
