Northeast Frontier Railway's General Manager on the project, Anshul Gupta said to ANI, "The work is going very well. The line will be completed by the end of 2023 and then we can run the train to Sikkim."
"It will serve economic, strategic purpose," the ANI report added.
Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has begun construction of the North Bengal-Sikkim Railway Link, a 52.7 km stretch of track that will connect Sevoke, West Bengal, to Rangpo, Sikkim.
The line is a broad gauge (5ft 6in) and has a proposed 65km/hr speed limit. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project – approved in 2008 – was held in February 2010, and the track was expected to be completed in 2020.
Once operational, it will be the first time Sikkim has been connected to the main Indian rail network and is expected to boost local tourism and the region's economy. Later it will be connected to Gangtok, Sikkim.
The rail link will pass through the steep terrain of the Kanchenjunga mountain range foothills and the Tista river valley. Additionally, 32km, amounting to 70 per cent of the route, will have to be built in tunnels.
