RailEnquiry

GUWAHATI: Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is working on a war footing to expedite the ongoing broad gauge conversion project between Rangiya and Murkongselek bordering Arunachal Pradesh.A top NFR official told TOI that the railways is making all out efforts to complete the broad gauge conversion of this 511.88-km vital route in Assam via the northern bank of the Brahmaputra by 2014, after the railway ministry proposed to fast-track the project during the Union rail budget presented last month.Due to the ongoing gauge conversion work along this rail route, train connectivity between Rangiya and Murkongselek has been on a halt for the last few years.The railway authorities said that linking Murkongselek would give the people of Arunachal Pradesh access to passenger trains as well because the place is located along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border."We are expecting that all the gauge conversion work between Rangiya and Murkongselek will be completed by 2014. From Rangiya to Dekargaon in Tezpur, the railways has completed gauge conversion of an almost 145-km stretch. We are planning to roll out rail engines in this stretch by the end of March this year," said Nripen Bhattacharyya, public relations officer of the NF Railway.

He informed that work is on in full swing to install signals and complete the train movement controlling system in this stretch. Immediately after completion of the broad gauge conversion between Rangiya and Dekargaon, the same will be expedited between North Lakhimpur and Murkongselek.

Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in his rail budget said rail services between Harmuti (Assam) and Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh) would be commissioned this year to boost rail connectivity between the two states.

A railway official said that Bansal is focusing on linking Arunachal Pradesh with the rest of the country due to the state's close proximity with China. As of now, there is no train connectivity between the remote state and any other parts of the country.