Mizoram gets its first railway link post-Independence, connecting Aizawl to India’s network under Modi govt’s Northeast rail mission.
ASSAM: Even after 78 years of Independence, the people of Mizoram have been deprived of the services of the Indian Railways, but no longer. The situation is changing. This state in India’s Northeast is being brought to the railway map of the country by Indian Railways, which is ardently pursuing the Narendra Modi government’s mission to connect by train the capitals of eight states including the Seven Sisters.
A train has reached Aizawl for the first time after Independence, thus making Mizoram the fourth state in the Northeast in terms of rail connectivity. North East Frontier Railway Zone (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer, K.K. Sharma told The Sunday Guardian in an exclusive conversation in Aizawl that with the start of this railway section, four states in the Northeast—the capitals of Assam, Arunachal, Tripura and Mizoram—will be connected to other parts of the country through India’s railway network. Till now, if one had to reach Mizoram by road, then one had to come via the “Chicken’s Neck”—Siliguri Corridor connecting the Northeast with the rest of the country. As far as coming by train is concerned, one can go until Silchar in Assam.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has described this as a project connecting Mizoram to “mainland” India and talked about its start in the coming few months. Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (I & P) of the Railway Ministry told The Sunday Guardian that there is a 51.38 km long rail project from Bairabi to Sairang railway station, through which Indian Railways can run trains at a speed of around 110 kmph to reach Mizoram’s capital Aizawl.
Currently, it takes eight to 10 hours to reach Aizawl from Silchar in Assam by road, whereas now, through this rail network, this distance can be covered in around three hours. The country’s second longest pier bridge has been built on this route, with a height of 104 metres, i.e. 42 metres higher than the Qutub Minar. There are 154 small and big bridges and 48 small and big tunnels in the entire network.
The foundation stone of this route was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 November 2014. Built at a cost of about Rs 5,022 crore, this project has four railway stations that will serve as a lifeline for Mizoram soon. According to sources, Prime Minister Modi is likely to flag off the train on this route in September this year.
Until now, a railway track has been laid until Aizawl in Mizoram. In future, there is a plan to take it to the Myanmar border, which is about 232 km from Aizawl. This railway line is also important from a strategic point of view, because Mizoram is a state bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar. In such a situation, due to the rail network in this border state, the supply of logistics and essential goods will be possible on time.
Mizoram, famous for its natural beauty, will see an increase in the number of tourists along with business, which will not only increase the income of the people here, but will also change both the fate and the picture of Mizoram. In future, the capitals of all the remaining Seven Sisters will be connected by rail— Manipur’s capital Imphal in 2026, Nagaland’s capital Kohima in 2030, Sikkim’s capital Gangtok in 2023 and Meghalaya’s capital Shillong in 2030.
The Modi government is also building the Kaladan Multi Model Connectivity as an alternative corridor to the Chicken’s Neck through which Kolkata can be reached from Myanmar and Myanmar can reach Aizawl. But Indian Railways has reached Aizawl before this, which means China cannot challenge India through Bangladesh and Myanmar.
