Railway Ministry inaugurates landmark Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam

The Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated 210 kms long   Lumding-Silchar broad gauge section (Assam) by flagging off a goods train via video conferencing.

• This is a landmark achievement by Indian Railways and important broad gauge railway connectivity project.
• This Phase-I line provides seamless BG connectivity to Barak Valley of Assam with the rest of the country. The phase-II consists of gauge conversion of three sections namely Badarpur – Kumarghat, Baraigram – Dullabcherra and Silchar-Jiribam.

About Lumding-Silchar Gauge Conversion Project :

• The Lumding-Silchar Gauge Conversion Project under the Northeast Frontier Railway was sanctioned in 1996-97 and was declared as a National Project in2004.
• In the initial years of the project the flow of funds had been very meager and allotments increased from 2004.
• The project was hit by insurgency during the years 2006 to 2009 and Territorial Army had to be deployed in the region to curb the insurgency.

Key points :

Meghalaya was brought on railway map for the first time and also capital of Arunachal Pradesh was connected to the National Capital by a direct train.