Sevoke-Rangpo rail project making progress

SE Report
GANGTOK:Much physical progress has been achieved in the Sevoke-Rangpo railway project as work is already in progress at various sections of the 44.96 km stretch.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) which is carrying out the construction work through IRCON International Ltd informed today that the likely date of completion of the project is December 2022.
Although NFR has been able to made headways to all the NE States with rail connectivity, Sikkim is still left out of the Indian Railway map. Work for providing rail connectivity was sanctioned for Sikkim way back in the year 2008-09.The work could not make much headway due to various environment related issues as the proposed railway line will pass through the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary, said the NFR in a press statement.
The Sevoke-Ranipool rail link spans 44.96 km - 41.55 km falls in West Bengal and 3.41 km falls in Sikkim. The anticipated project cost will be around Rs. 8,900 crore of which about Rs. 335.52 crore have already been utilized till last month. Budget allotment for 2020-21 is Rs. 607 crores.
The entire section is being constructed by using latest technology so that train can run at a speed of 100 kmph. There will be 38,555 m of tunnelling work involved in the entire project. This is more than 92 percent of the entire project length. There will be 14 tunnels, 5 stations (Sevoke, Riyang, Teesta Bazaar, Melli and Rangpo) and 13 bridges in the section.
Due to difficult terrain and prolonged rainy season, work often gets affected. The work got affected from March to May, 2020 due to Covid-19 related restrictions, said the NFR.
The national project once completed is expected to boost connectivity of the land locked State which shares its three international border apart from being strategically important. Rail connectivity will also provide a reliable and economical transportation infrastructure, the NFR adds in the statement.