Railway connection to most North Eastern state capitals by 2020

Indian Railways on Monday said most of the capitals of North Eastern states will have railway connection by 2020.

"All capital cities of North East states, including Sikkim, will be under Indian Railways map by 2020. The railway department has started 'Mission 2020' and it will implement it very strictly within the stipulated timeframe," Northeast Frontier Railway General Manager (Construction) Rajesh Kumar Singh told PTI. Talking about individual time limits, he informed that Agartala will be under broad gauge connection by March 2016.

"By the next year, that is March 31, 2017, we will have railway connection upto Tupul in Manipur. Within March 31, 2018, BG line will start up to Sairang, near Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram," Singh said.

The work for setting up of a new line from Tupul to Imphal will be finished by March, 2019, he added.

"By March 31, 2020, railway lines will be up to Shillong in Meghalaya and Rangpo in Sikkim," he said. Arunachal Pradesh is already connected with a broad gauge line upto Naharlagun, near Itanagar.

When asked about Nagaland, Singh reamined non-committal. Singh said the department was working in full swing to fulfill the projects within time. The time limit set for gauge conversion between Lumding and Silchar was March 31 this year but a broad gauge engine has reached the Silchar station on March 13, the General Manager informed.