Sikkim expected to get rail connectivity by 2023: official

An official from the Indian Railway Construction Company, which is implementing the project, said that 30% of the work has been completed

Sikkim is expected to get rail connectivity with the rest of India by 2023 as the 44.98-km long Sevoke-Rangpo railway line is set to become operational within two years, an official has said.

SWhile 41.54 km of the railway line falls in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, the remaining portion of around 3.44 km will run through Sikkim (HT Photo/representative use)

“The Sevoke-Rangpo rail line would become operational from 2023,” said Anshul Gupta, the general manager of the North-East Frontier Railway, after visiting the project site at Sevoke, around 20 km from Siliguri in West Bengal. “Despite the difficult terrain, land-related hiccups, and very difficult land strata, the project would be completed in 2023.”

Then railway minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone for the project in 2009 and the project was supposed to be completed by 2015.

Railway officials said that the Prime Minister’s office and the Railway Board have set December 2023 as the project completion target.

An official from the Indian Railway Construction Company, which is implementing the project, said that 30% of the work has been completed.

The line, which will connect West Bengal and Sikkim, was estimated to be completed at the cost of ₹1,339.48 crore. But because of the delay in the construction, the cost has escalated to more than ₹5,000 crore.

While 41.54 km of the railway line falls in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, the remaining portion of around 3.44 km will run through Sikkim.

The project includes 14 tunnels, 17 bridges, and five stations, which include one at Teesta in Kalimpong district that would be underground. At least 86% of the route will pass through 14 tunnels out of which 13 tunnels are in West Bengal.