Bringing a new dawn in the country’s rail connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone for Sikkim’s first railway station viz Rangpo station today, a railways official informed.

With this introduction, Sikkim will now be connected with a railway line, marking the third mode of transportation for its residents, who have relied on air travel and roads hitherto. 

“Rangpo station is the form of a touristic and defensive point of view for Sikkim and India, Basically, Sikkim did not have a railway line earlier. The government has signed this project in three phases. In the first phase, Sevoke to the Rangpo rail project; in the other phase, from Rangpo to Gangtok; and the third phase, from Gangtok to Nathula,” Deputy railway manager of Alipurduar Amarjeet Agrawal said to ANI. 

This marks the third mode of transportation for the people of Sikkim. Thus far, people have primarily relied on roads and air travel. Initially scheduled for completion by 2024, the project’s timeline has been extended to 2025 due to external factors such as floods and landslides, Agrawal added. 

Sevoke-Rangpo rail project 

The Sevoke-Rangpo project is a 45-kilometer-long rail line. Out of 45 km, three and a half km is part of Sikkim and the rest forty-one and a half km is part of West Bengal, project director Mohinder Singh said. Located 26 km away from Siliguri railway station, the redevelopment of Sevoke railway station in West Bengal is also in progress.

Outlining the tunnel aspect of the project, he mentioned that the project has 14 tunnels, 13 major bridges, and 9 minor bridges. The project is sixty to sixty-five percent completed, and from next month we will initiate track work, the project director added. 

“Eighty-six percent of the alignment of this project is in the tunnel, and digging out of the tunnel is challenging work; it’s not easy to dig, because rocks are not too strong. In a month, we dig fifteen meters,” he told ANI.

PM to dedicate mega rail projects 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate around 2,000 railway infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 41,000 crores today at around 12:30 PM via video conferencing, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office mentioned 

He will lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 553 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Spread across 27 states and Union Territories, these stations will be redeveloped at a cost of over Rs. 19,000 crores.