In a historic moment for Manipur and India as a whole, the first goods train arrived at Khongsang Station from Rani Gaidinliu Station on the first Jiribam-Imphal railway line in Manipur on Monday (March 28, 2022), covering a distance of 56 km.
"As promised in our election campaign, I'm pleased to share that the first goods train has successfully arrived at Khongsang Station from Rani Gaidinliu Station(56 Km). Immensely thankful to Hon'ble PM Shri@narendramodi ji for his unwavering support for development of Manipur," Biren said in a Twitter post.
BJP national spokeperson Sambit Patra hailed the successful arrival of the goods train and said that the train will boost connectivity and commerce in Manipur.
"Transformation of Manipur continues! The first goods train arrived at Khongsang station from Rani Gaidinliu station. The train will boost the connectivity & commerce in Manipur. Thank you hon’ble PM Shri@NarendraModi Ji, for taking Manipur to new heights of development," Sambit Patra tweeted.
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The railway line between Rani Gaidinliu Station at Oinamlong village to Khongsang Station at Kongsang is a part of the Rs 14000-crore Jiribam-Imphal new broad gauge railway line project.
The first ever goods train reached Rani Gaidinliu Railway Station, Tamenglong on January 27, 2022.
The Jiribam-Imphal railway new broad gauge railway line project being constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 14,000 crore has 46 tunnels, including a 12-km single tube tunnel, which is the second longest in Indian Railways network, and 153 bridges.
Although the crucial 111 km Jiribam (Assam border) to Imphal new line project has been delayed due to several reasons, the Northeast Frontier Railway has accelerated the work to complete it within the revised timeline.
The project was first sanctioned and included in the 2004-05 Budget. The detailed estimate was sanctioned in 2013 and work was bid out subsequently.
One of the bridges, Noney Bridge, which is under construction, is slated to become the world's tallest rail bridge on piers as two out of the seven piers will be of 141 meters each. The other piers vary between 50 metres to 90 metres.
