Mizoram to be connected to Indian Railways network for first time

AIZAWL: Mizoram is to become the first state in the Northeast to be interconnected with the Indian Railways network since independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday commission the newly laid 51.38 km Bairabi–Sairang railway line, along with two new trains connecting Mizoram directly to Kolkata and New Delhi.

The railway track, starting from Bairabi along the Assam–Mizoram border, goes up to Sairang, a small town only 18 km from the capital, Aizawl. The Prime Minister will also flag off the Kolkata–Sairang Express and Mizoram’s first capital-bound train, the Sairang–New Delhi Anand Vihar Rajdhani Express, on the occasion of the line inauguration. The Kolkata–Sairang Express will run three times a week — on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays — from Kolkata, and the Sairang–Kolkata Express will run on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, according to Eastern Railway’s Principal Chief Commercial Manager Uday Shankar Jha.

The new service will stop at important stations such as Naihati, Krishnanagar City, Berhampore Court, Murshidabad, Azimganj, Jangipur Road, New Farakka, Malda Town, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri, New Cooch Behar, Tufanganj, Golakganj, Gauripur, Bismalpur, Abhayapuri, Goalpara Town, Kamakhya, Guwahati, Hojai, New Haflong, Badarpur, Hailakandi, and Bairabi before finally arriving at Sairang.