Sivok Rangpo rail project, travelling between West Bengal and Sikkim will be reduced to 2 hours

The Sivok Rangpo rail project is a dream project of Indian Railways which will allow the travelling time between West Bengal to Sikkim to be drastically reduced to 2 hours.  Union Minister of state for Railways, Coal and Mines Raosaheb Patil Danve visited the site of construction on Nov 22 and said that the goal is to complete the whole project by June 2023. He also said that this project will really help the people of the North East as there are no easy ways to travel to Delhi or any other state and it will also help to improve trade and commerce.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone along with IRCON international Limited, is working to construct the 44 km long Sivok Rangpo railway line, which will enable travelling between Sivok in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim in just two hours. The rail line spans across a total length of 44 kms crossing as many as 19 bridges and 14 tunnels. The tunnels cover almost 85% of the total journey. Around 40 km of track will be laid in West Bengal and around 4km will be in Sikkim.

The line will cross through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Kurseong forest division, Darjeeling forest division, Kalimpong forest division and the East Sikkim forest division. However, it is said that it will not disturb the environment and wildlife as the train will run through tunnels.

The project has several benefits as the northeast part of the area from Sivok to Rangpo has a single road route which is often closed due to natural disturbances in monsoons due to landslides and many other reasons. This makes traveling very tough over this route. However, the Sivok Rangpo rail line will come as the ultimate solution for regular passengers and tourists in this area. The tourist industry will also receive a huge profit as travelling will be really easy. This line will also improve trade of industries like medicine, hydropower projects which is the main revenue generation source of Sikkim. It will also be very helpful for students in this project, by connecting major states and towns which will open professional and academic opportunities for students.

This route connects to Sikkim which shares borders with China so it will be a lot easier for the Indian Army to commute in this area. It will also make travelling faster and easier for the Indian Soldiers at the nearby Nathula border.