New Delhi/Aizawl- Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence in New Delhi and also invited him to formally inaugurate the newly completed Bairabi–Sairang railway line and the new Sairang Railway Station. An official of the Mizoram Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the Prime Minister expressed his willingness to do so in person, subject to the availability of time in his schedule. He said that during the meeting, several key issues concerning the development of Mizoram were discussed. The Chief Minister raised important matters, including the Thenzawl Peace City Project, a request to declare the Aizawl-Thenzawl road as a National Highway, and the implementation progress of the Handholding Policy. The two leaders also discussed the situation in the Chin Hills of Myanmar and its implications for Mizoram, the CMO official said. According to the official, Lalduhoma highlighted the need to expand piped gas connectivity to households in Aizawl, noting the ongoing Rs 9,265 crore Gas Pipeline Project being implemented by Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL). He urged the Prime Minister to implement a timely execution to reduce dependence on gas cylinders. In response, the Prime Minister assured his full support and conveyed his expectation that the Deputy Commissioner of Mamit District should take proactive steps to facilitate the pipeline work, the CMO official said. After the inauguration of the 51.38 km long Bairabi-Sairang new railway project, Mizoram’s Aizawl would be the fourth capital city in the northeast region to be connected by a railway network. An official of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said that the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Northeast Frontier Circle, Sumeet Singhal, after visiting the newly laid railway tracks between June 6 and June 10, authorised the NFR to operate both goods and passenger trains on the line. The Bairabi-Sairang new railway project has been divided into four sections — Bairabi-Hortoki (16.72 km, commissioned in July 2024), Hortoki-Kawnpui (9.71 km), Kawnpui-Mualkhang (12.11 km), and Mualkhang-Sairang (12.84 km). The NFR official said that this milestone completes the entire 51.38 km new railway line project from Bairabi, near Assam’s Hailakandi district, to Sairang, near Aizawl city, bringing direct rail connectivity to the Mizoram state capital for the first time. This transformative achievement is expected to significantly enhance passenger and freight movement, stimulate socio-economic growth, and fulfil a long-standing aspiration of the people of Mizoram to see trains arriving in the heart of their capital, the official said. Despite the tough terrain, commendable work has been carried out by the NFR. The official said that the Bairabi-Sairang new line railway project is an engineering marvel of the Indian Railways. The project, which lies in mountainous terrain, consists of 48 tunnels, 55 major bridges, and 87 minor bridges. The total length of tunnels in this project is 12,853 meters. The height of bridge number 196 is 104 metres, which is 42 metres taller than the Qutub Minar. The project also includes five Road Over Bridges and six Road Under Bridges. After the inauguration of the Bairabi-Sairang new railway line, Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl, would soon become the fourth NE state capital to be linked to the country’s railway network after Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mizoram CM invites PM Modi to inaugurate Bairabi-Sairang railway project
