Aizawl to get railway station soon
GUWAHATI: “Mizoram is not only the land of hardworking people but is also the land of peace-loving people. That makes it rich in human capital which is a sure recipe for development if supported by requisite infrastructure. Railway will make all-out effort to provide the infrastructure to accelerate development in Mizoram,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said while laying the foundation of station building of Sairang railway station at Sairang on Friday.
The new Bhairabi – Sairang BG railway rail link is slated for completion in year 2019-20. Prabhu said, future development in the region, especially of railway network, would make northeast the “destination” instead of being a transit point, a NF Railway spokesman here informed.
Prabhu underscored railway’s role in economic development of the region and said – Railway would not only be the engine of growth but would also be the catalyst of social transformation.
Citing examples of rich natural resources of the state, the Railway minister called for better utilisation of the natural resources like bamboo. He announced that Railways would plan for more and more use of bamboo products of the region in the Indian Railway system to give a boost to the industry.
The new BG line from Bairabi to Sairang was part of Indian Railway vision to connect all the capitals of North Eastern states through BG line by the year 2020.
The 50.38 Km new line originates from Bairabi station and terminates at Sairang station, which is 20 Km from Aizawl. Due to very steep gradient between Sairang and Aizawl, it was not feasible to take up the line up to Aizawl city.
The alignment of Bhairabi – Sairang New BG line passes through difficult hilly terrain covered with dense forest throughout its length. There are 23 tunnels – longest being 1766m – 38 major bridges and 6tall bridges (the tallest being 117m high). There are four stations in the section excluding Bairabi.
They are Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang. Each station will have high level passenger platform, covered shed, and other passenger amenities.
This was being done for establishing a link with the road constructed under the Kaladan Multi Modal Transport Project linking Sittwe port in Myanmar. This would make Mizoram the gateway to Asian countries.
Northeast Frontier Railway officials said land acquisition for the ongoing construction of broad gauge line between Bairabi and Sairang has been almost completed except for additional land acquisition of about 40 hectares.
The broad gauge train service between Bairabi and Sairang would include both freight and passenger trains.