Railways safety body gives final nod for Mizoram capital's first rail link

The Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) has authorised operations on the railway line from Hortoki to Sairang in Mizoram, the final clearance for a key stretch that will connect state capital Aizawl by rail for the first time.
The Hortoki-Sairang line is the last leg of the larger 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang rail project.
Sairang is a satellite town of Aizawl, around 20 km from the city. Bairabi in Kolasib district, near the border with Assam, has so far been the only railhead in Mizoram.
The inspection by the CRS, a railway safety audit body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is the final step before train operations commence.
A senior official of the Ministry of Railways said the 33.86-km Hortoki-Sairang stretch was inspected by Sumeet Singhal, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Northeast Frontier Circle, between June 6 to June 10. The formal inauguration of the full Bairabi-Sairang line will likely take place this month.
So far, trains have entered only up to 1.5 km in Mizoram. They have also not been running on the Bairabi to Hortoki section that was commissioned last year.
With the commissioning of the final leg, Mizoram's capital is now integrated with the national railway network and trains are set to run on the complete stretch.
'The CRS inspection was conducted via motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial using an inspection special hauled by a diesel locomotive. The Hortoki–Sairang section lies in hilly terrain and includes 32 tunnels and 35 major bridges. Following the inspection, the CRS has authorised the opening of the broad gauge line from Hortoki to Sairang for public carriage of goods and passengers at a maximum permissible speed of 90 kmph on the main line,' said Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
The 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang New Line Railway Project comprises 48 tunnels (with a cumulative length of 12,853 metres), 55 major bridges and 87 minor bridges.
The height of one of the bridges (bridge number 196) is 104 metres — which, for context, is 42 metres taller than the Qutub Minar.
The project also includes five road overbridges and 6 road underbridges. This project is divided into four sections: Bairabi-Hortoki, Hortoki- Kawnpui, Kawnpui-Mualkhang and Mualkhang-Sairang.
The Bairabi-Sairang project is part of a broader push by the Ministry of Railways to connect all northeast state capitals by rail. This involves numerous new line and doubling projects across Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur and Tripura. Rail work is yet to take off in Meghalaya over years of opposition by local groups.
According to data tabled by the Ministry of Railways in Lok Sabha on March 19 this year, overall, as of April 1, 2024, there were 18 railway projects (13 new line and 5 doubling) with a total length of 1,368 km and an estimated cost of `74,972 crore at various stages of planning and implementation in the northeast, including Assam. Of this, 313 km of track length has been commissioned. An expenditure of Rs 40,549 crore had been incurred up to March 2024.
Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More

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