The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has said that it is all set to begin passenger train services from Haldibari in Cooch Behar to Chilahati in Bangladesh, but that they had been waiting for a green signal from the neighbouring country.

The NF Railway has also said that train services to Gangtok in Sikkim will begin by March 2024. Addressing a virtual press conference today, General Manager of the NF Railway Anshul Gupta said: “Goods train services from Haldibari has started. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the passenger train service has not yet started. We will allow passenger trains from India through this route whenever the Bangladesh government is ready and after discussing the matter with authorities concerned, including the External Affairs department.”

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According to Mr Gupta, initial survey for trains to run from Rangpo to Gangtok has been completed. “Another survey, that is the final location survey, for setting up railway stations, especially in Gangtok, will begin soon. After completing the final location survey, the railway authorities will start another survey from Gangtok to Nathu La, in association with the state government, for readying the alignment and setting up the railway network,” he said.

According to Mr Gupta, work is going on in full swing on the railway line between Sivok near Siliguri and Rangpo in Sikkim, a 44.96 km stretch, and that its target date of commissioning has been set for December 2023. The GM also said that a railway network will also be completed in another neighbouring country, connecting Biratnagar in Nepal, soon.

It may be noted here that the objective of the GM’s interaction with the Press was to focus this year’s Budget and allocation for the NF Railway, which, he said was significant in bringing in development in Northeastern states. According to Mr Gupta, the gross budget allocation of Rs 11428.86 crore in 2022-23 was “238 percent” more than the average of 2009-2014. “The budget allotment for the year 2022-23 for Northeast states is 44 percent more than the previous year’s allocation, which was Rs 6913 crore,” Mr Gupta said.

According to him, Rs 7,121 crore was allocated for new lines and doubling, Rs 4,171.22 crore for other safety and thorough enhancement work, Rs 96 crore for passengers’ amenities and Rs 40.54 crore for staff welfare in 2022-23. The GM also highlighted a plan for ‘one station one product’ project in the railway network, a 2,000-km railway network under the KAVACH project and 100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics to be developed in the next three years.

Mr Gupta said that the NFR will be getting a few trains in main important routes of the 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains to be manufactured. According to him, four passengers injured in the train accident at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri recently are still undergoing treatment in hospital.