Sikkim to get first train service

By 2024, Sikkim is predicted to join the national network and the nation would receive infrastructure of strategic importance in the Himalayan state that borders China, with more than half of the Sivok-Rangpo railway line project already built. There will be 14 tunnels and 22 bridges on the 45-kilometer, all-weather train track that is now being built from Siliguri, West Bengal, to Rangpo, Sikkim. This route crosses mountains, ravines, and the Teesta River. Though work is being done with great caution because the entire project is located in seismic zones four and five, it is being done on a war footing. Additionally, landslides and flash floods are a constant concern, according to Project Director Mohinder Singh of ICON International, a government PSU under the Ministry of Railways. The representative of the Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Limited assured that safety procedures are in place and being followed. He added that there are future plans to include Gangtok in the itinerary.