Blitz Bureau
AIZAWL is likely to come under railway connectivity by July next year. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is laying the new broad gauge (BG) track up to Sairang, near Aizawl, according to officials. It would be the fourth capital city in the northeast region to get rail connectivity.
Assam’s city of Guwahati (adjoining capital Dispur), Agartala (Tripura), and Arunachal Pradesh’s Naharlagun (adjacent to capital city Itanagar) are already connected with the railway network.
The officials said the new broadgauge line is being laid in the Bairabi (near Assam’s Hailakandi District) – Sairang (52 km) section in Mizoram’s Aizawl District. “The Rs 8,213.72 crore BairabiSairang railway project would be commissioned in July 2025,” they said. There are four stations in this section: Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang, and Sairang.
The 52 km new line between Bairabi and Sairang is divided into four sections — Bairabi–Hortoki, Hortoki–Kawnpui, Kawnpui–Mualkhang, and Mualkhang–Sairang.
An NFR team led by its Chief Engineer (Construction) Vinod Kumar apprised Mizoram Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati about the progress of the under-construction railway project. The Governor said that after completion of the railway project, it would ensure substantial cost cutting on transportation of passengers and commodities in addition to reducing the travel time between Aizawl and neighbouring Assam, at least by three to four hours.
A senior Mizoram government official said that the Bairabi-Sairang railway project being a ‘National Project’ of importance, once completed, would not just be an asset for Mizoram but would be an economic asset for the nation.