DIMAPUR, April 10— In a step ahead of the Centre’s commitment to extend the Railway network to the nook and corner of the country, with special emphasis to connect all the capitals of the Northeastern states, the Northeast Frontier Railway’s General Manager has disclosed that the survey work of the new Jiribam-Imphal railway line was already completed and the Rs 1000 crore project is in the final stage of getting sanction from the Railway Board.
“General Manager of the NFR, Vipan Nanda while interacting with media persons in Kohima informed that the survey of the proposed Diphu-Karong railway line had been frozen at the behest of the Manipur Government.“While clarifying the matter of closing the Railway Reservation Office in Imphal, the railway official said the step was necessitated because Manipur Government had failed to deposit sale proceed amounting Rs 60 lakh to the bank. He, however said, “We will not close the Railway Reservation Office at Imphal and it will be opened soon”. Manipur government had promised repayment of the outstanding to the NFR in the coming week. "They will pay so it won't be closed," the general manager said. “Besides bringing in many new projects for the northeast, the officials said commencement of work on Rs 600 crores-Dimapur-Kohima railway line is not distant even as connectivity from Dharmanagar to Agartala will be achieved in four years time. The approximate length of the new line to bring Kohima on rail network would be around 120 Km and the proposed alignment would take off from the existing Dimapur Railway station, he said adding. There are also plans to make Dimapur into a model station with more amenities for the passengers. “The Kumarghat-Dharmanagar line would be converted to broad gauge, Nanda said the railways had already entered Tripura, till Manu.
“The Rajdhani Express to New Delhi from Guwahati will be a daily train from May 19 next and its frequency to Dibrugarh via Dimapur will be increased to thrice a week. He indicated that the chances of extending the frequency to seven days a week in the future is also on the cards.“Railway Ministry has been investing for the improvement of the railway facilities in the region. He said posting cut that the annual investment of Rs 200 crores ten years ago has been substantially increased to Rs 500 crores in the current financial year. “The General manager said almost all the meter gauge tracks would be converted to board gauge and assured complete connectivity of all the seven states of the region with the rest of the country. He said, this would not only push forward the economic development of the region but would also give substantial employment opportunities to the educated unemployed youths of the region.
“The survey for the extension of Amguri-Tuli railway line up to Tuli town (11 kilometers) was sanctioned by the Railway Board in 2002 -03 and the proposed alignment of this extension would take off from the existing terminal station of Tuli. Four kilometers of the proposed alignment falls under Assam while the remaining seven kilometers in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland, the official said. The work was progressing despite “difficult terrain.”
“The flow of tourists is also likely to increase considerably since the political scenario of the region had drastically changed following Centre’s initiatives to bring peace to the region through measures such as peace talks and negotiations with various militant groups active in the region.“Nanda also expressed the hope that lot of investment would come to the region from outside. “The railway team also met Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio and secretaries of various departments during his visit to Kohima.