Bogibeel bridge
Trial run being carried out on Bogibeel bridge.

For the first time NF Railway on Thursday run a trial engine on the Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra. The trial run was carried out on one of the two tracks from the North bank (Dhemaji side) to South bank (Dibrugarh side). Earlier the railway motor trolley was run successfully on the track. Railway sources said that the trial on the second track will be run soon.

Spanning over 4.94-km, the Bogibeel bridge is the country’s longest rail-cum-road bridge. In its 17th year of construction, late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had kick-started its construction work on April 21, 2002. The bridge is 32 metres above the water level of the Brahmaputra and is modelled on a bridge that links Sweden and Denmark.

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On Wednesday, Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia accompanied by Special Director General of Police (Special Branch) Pallab Bhattacharya had reviewed the security requirements of the Bogibeel bridge that is on the final stage of construction.

The mega bridge built at a cost of Rs 5500 crore is expected to be ready by the end of this year. Once commissioned the bridge will provide major boost to defence logistics along the border with China apart from improving connectivity in the region.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in his Twitter handle on Thursday stated that with the Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra will resolve the inter-State connectivity issue. Khandu tweeted: “A train of Indian railway chugging its way thru Bogibeel bridge, the longest rail/road bridge over Brahmaputra river in Assam. The project started in 2002 and by grace of PM Narendra Modi is being completed now. It will solve inter-state connectivity issue (between Assam and Arunachal).”

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Avik Chakraborty is Northeast Now Correspondent in Dibrugarh. He can be reached at: [email protected]