In a historic moment for Manipur, for the first time, a goods train reached Rani Gaidinliu station at Oinamlong village along the new Jiribam-Imphal railway line in Manipur on Thursday. Villagers of Oinamlong performed traditional dance to welcome the arrival of the first goods train at Rani Gaidinliu station.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh had termed it as "yet another milestone" of the BJP-led government.
"In yet another milestone, the first ever Goods Train reached Rani Gaidinliu Railway Station, Tamenglong yesterday. The improvement in railway connectivity, under the close supervision of Hon’ PM Sh@narendramodi Ji, will immensely improve the socio-economic condition of Manipur," Biren tweeted.
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.
