52 km Bengal-Sikkim rail line to be functional by December 2023

On Saturday, Anshul Gupta, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager, told the media that the 52 km long rail line linking Sevoke in West Bengal with Rangpo in Sikkim is proposed to be functional by December 2023. The development of the rail line, which will have six stations, commenced in 2009 when Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, was the Railway Minister. It was first scheduled to be achieved by 2015 but has been meeting problems due to difficult terrain and land-related hiccups, which caused a setback in the project. The expected cost of the project has additionally surged from Rs 1,300 crore to more than Rs 5,000 crore. The Authority of the Indian Railway Construction Company, which is executing the project, said that 30%of the work has been achieved so far. Earlier this week, Gupta had met Prem Singh Tamang, Chief Minister, Sikkim, and discussed the ongoing project. Image Source Also read: RVNL doubles Washimbe Bhalwani section of Daund-Gulbarga project