Aizawl: Mizoram has sought the service of the Rajdhani Express to improve rail connectivity between the state capital Aizawl and New Delhi, an official statement here said on Wednesday.
Lalduhoma, during a meeting with Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Tuesday, urged him to initiate the Rajdhani Express service between Sairang and the national capital once the Bairabi-Sairang broad gauge railway line becomes operational, according to the statement.
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Sairang is located about 21 km from Aizawl. The Chief Minister also requested Vaishnaw to facilitate the Howrah railway service between Sairang and Kolkata, and direct train service from Sairang to Tripura, it said.
Urging the Centre to improve Sairang railway station into a world-class railway station, Lalduhoma requested the Union Minister to install internet service at the railway station and also establish a railway reservation centre and parcel management system, it said.
The chief minister also submitted a proposal to Vaishnaw urging him to give special favour to the locals while recruiting manpower or staff to work at four railway stations- Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang, and Sairang- along the Bairabi-Sairang railway line, the statement said.
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Vaishnaw, on his part, assured that he would take steps to fulfill the requests of the Mizoram chief minister, it added.
Officials expect to commission the 51.38-km-long Bairabi–Sairang broad gauge railway line project, which connects Mizoram with the rest of the country, in July.
The railway line, when inaugurated, will first link Aizawl/Sairang with Assam’s Silchar town and bring Mizoram within the fold of India’s railway network for the first time.
Bairabi in Kolasib district on the Mizoram-Assam border has so far been the only railhead in Mizoram.
The Northeast Frontier Railway is executing the railway line project, which the Centre sanctioned in 2008-2009. Earlier, NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Kishore Sharma stated that they had fully completed the project and scheduled its commissioning for July.
He said the team successfully conducted trial runs on the 51 km long railway line in early May. Officials added that they are currently carrying out a safety inspection.
The Bairabi-Sairang railway line project came under the Centre’s Act East policy, which aims at boosting connectivity and economic integration across the northeast region.
The project costs over Rs 8,200 crore as per revised estimate and the construction began in 2015, according to officials.
The railway line passes through 55 major and 87 minor bridges, 32 underground tunnels measuring a total of about 12.65 km, 15 cut and covered tunnels, five road overbridges and six underpasses, and four stations – Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang.