Sivok–Rangpo line

Sivok-Rangpo Railway Line is a line currently under construction to connect the Indian states of West Bengal and Sikkim.^[1] It branches out from New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line at Sivok railway station, Sevoke Town near Siliguri in Darjeeling district and runs through villages and towns of Kalimpong district of West Bengal and terminates in Rangpo Railway Station in Rangpo, Pakyong District of Sikkim. In the second phase of construction, this line will be extended till Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, and later to the Nathu La pass, along the border with Tibet.^[2] This railway line lies under Northeast Frontier Railway zone Alipurduar railway division. The total length of this railway line between Sevoke and Rangpo is 44.96 Kilometres.

Sivok-Rangpo Railway Line
Overview
Status	Under construction
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	West Bengal and Sikkim
Termini	Sivok railway station Rangpo railway station
Stations	05
Website	www.ircon.org
Service
Type	Regional rail
System	North East Frontier Railway
Operator(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
Depot(s)	Sivok
History
Opened	under construction
Technical
Track length	44 km
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Route map Legend km km New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section 238 105 Fakiragram New Jalpaiguri-New Bongaigaon section Fakiragram–Golakganj branch line to Dhubri & Abhayapuri 58 Golakganj Gadadhar River closed MG section to Bamanhat 43 Agomoni 36 Bidyar Dabri Assam West Bengal border 30 Boxirhat New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section 23 Tufanganj Samuktala Road 174 213 12 Maradanga 203 New Alipurduar Kaljani River 192 New Baneswar Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line 184 0 New Cooch Behar New Mal–Changrabandha– New Cooch Behar line New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section 176 Baneswar Kaljani River 166 Alipurduar Salsala Bari 169 164 Alipurduar Court Alipurduar College 164 161 Alipurduar Junction 157 Damanpur 150 Rajabhatkhawa Buxa Road 156 closed MG section Jayanti 166 planned Rajabhatkhawa–Jayanti new BG line 144 Garopara 138 Kalchini 135 Hamiltonganj 126 Hasimara Air Force Base Torsa River Dalsingpara 120 closed MG section 116 Madarihat 107 Mujnai 101 Dalgaon 92 Binnaguri 85 Banarhat Jaldhaka River 77 Chengmari 74 Carron, West Bengal 69 Nagrakata 62 Chapramari Naxal 71 planned Chalsa-Naxal new BG line Metelli 64 closed Chalsa-Metelli MG section 55 Chalsa Neora River Gangtok 122 48 New Mal Junction Singtam 90 New Mal–Changrabandha– New Cooch Behar line planned/approved ↑ under construction ↓ 42 Damdim Rangpo 68 37 Odlabari Sikkim West Bengal border Ghish River Melli 51 33 Bagrakote Tista Bazaar 46 Leesh River Teesta River 26 Pillamshat Teesta River Gielkhola 44 Rilli 40 Riyang 37 Siliguri-Gielkhola closed NG section Kalijhora 27 21 Sivok 18 Gulma Khola Salugara 13 Mahananda River Siliguri-Gielkhola closed NG section 16 Gulma 11 Pashwashraya Panchnai Junction 13 Darjeeling Himalayan Railway narrow-gauge line Siliguri-Kishanganj closed NG section Panchai River 7 Siliguri Junction Matigara 11 4 Siliguri Town Balason River New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section 0 New Jalpaiguri R.R. Halt 14 7 Rangapani Bagdogra 17 Katihar–New Jalpaiguri line Katihar–Siliguri line 0 Sources: Google Maps Indian Railway – East Zone Time Table 55425 Alipurduar–Bamanhat Passenger 55426 Bamanhat–Alipuduar Passenger

This railway line is being constructed by Ircon International company. This railway line covers Darjeeling district and Kalimpong district of West Bengal and Pakyong District of Sikkim.

Route

Sivok-Rangpo Railway Line passes through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, runs parallel to River Teesta and crosses River Rangpo.

It passes through villages and towns like Kalijhora, Birik daara, Lohapul, Rambi Bazar, Gailkhola, Teesta Bazaar, Chitrey, Melli, Kirnay, Tarkhola, Chanatar, Rangpo and Khanikhola, Majitar, Rangpo. The line traverses through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling Forest Division, Kurseong Forest Division, Kalimpong Forest Division of West Bengal and Pakyong District Forest Division of Sikkim.

Stations

There will be following stations:

• Sivok railway station in Sevoke
• Riyang railway station in Rambi Bazar
• Tista Bazaar (Underground Railway Station) in Teesta Bazaar
• Melli railway station in Melli and
• Rangpo railway station in Mining, Rangpo.

Under-construction extension

See also: Geostrategic rail lines of India

Sivok–Rangpo line, 44 km-long line, will provide access to Gangtok in Sikkim.^[3] The foundation stone for construction of a new railway line from Sevoke railway station to proposed Rangpo railway station on the border of Sikkim and West Bengal was laid in October 2009 by the vice president of India.^[4] In 2008, the line was proposed to be 53 km long with 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge track but the final alignment is 45 km long with 3.5 km in Sikkim state and the rest in West Bengal state. The track will have 28 bridges and 14 tunnels and 38.5 km of the track will be in tunnels.^[5][6] Bridges over deep gorges and valleys will provide a scenic journey.^{[citation needed]} The track is due to be constructed through the foothills of the Kanchanjungha mountain range and the Teesta river valley. New railway stations will be constructed at Melli, Teesta Bazaar, Geil Khola, Riang, and Rangpo.^{[needs update][speculation?]}

The Indian Railways signed a contract with the construction company, IRCON, only in May 2010 but the final alignment had not been fixed for the first 22 km through elephant sanctuary forest even in 2013 and the final clearance of environment ministry had not been received.^[7] To obtain approval of the environment and forest ministry, the railways made a proposal in February 2013 to install elephant sensors along the stretch of the proposed railway line in Mahananda elephant sanctuary or run the trains at a speed of only 20 km per hour in the forest area and stop when an elephant is sighted close to the track.^[8] People of two villages in East Sikkim, through which a 3.5 km stretch of the 45 km long railway line has been planned, had not agreed to give their land for laying the track.^[9] The project cost has escalated from the estimated cost of Rs.13.4 billion in 2008^[10]

The Supreme Court of India approved the project in February 2016 with strict guidelines of the National Wildlife Board that cleared the project in June 2015 but ordered restricted speed, wireless animal tracking sensors and allowed digging of tunnels only during daytime. The railway line is needed for security and socio-economic reasons. The railway line will help troops and armaments move faster towards the Indo-Tibet border. Railway Board chairman visited and met the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials on 2 March 2018 to discuss the commencement of construction of the track and tunnels.^[11] In August 2019, the railway line up to Rangpo was expected to be completed in 2021.^[12] In the second phase the line will be extended up to Gangtok.^[13]

• Estimated cost: Rs.7876.92 crore in 2024.
• Length of final alignment: 44.98 km
• Stations en route: Riang, Gailkhola, Tista Bazaar, Melli
• Nearest junction: New Jalpaiguri (30 km from Sevoke through Siliguri)
• Route under tunnels: 38.53 km (86%)
• Number of bridges: 28
• Number of tunnels: 14
• Longest tunnel: 5.1 km

Further delays, and status updates

• November 2021: 30% of the construction work was reported completed, and a new deadline for completion was set to the end of 2023.^[14]
• September 2022: Sevoke-Rangpo rail link would be ready by 2023-end, 55% of 14 main tunnels (22 km out of 39 km tunnel route) and 40% of 13 major bridges were reported completed.^[15]
• March 2023: The Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the construction was not yet finished, due to the complicated terrain and the many tunnels and bridges. He however announced that the fast electric Vande Bharat Express trains will start running from Rangpo Railway Station in December 2024. He also confirmed the plans to prolongate the line, first to Gangtok, and later up to Nathu La at the border to China.^[16]

See also

• Geostrategic railways under-construction in India
• India-China Border roads and rails
• China–India railway

References

1. "Sikkim to get Indian Railways connectivity! What is the status of the Sevoke-Rangpo Rail Line project? Details". The Financial Express. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
2. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1552067154723618816 ^{[bare URL]}
3. North East to get better Indian Railways connectivity! 5 major rail projects lined up, Financial Express, July 17, 2020.
4. "Update". www.constructionupdate.com. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
5. "Inspection survey for Sikkim rail link". @businessline. 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
6. Atreya, Sarikah. "Inspection survey for Sikkim rail link". The Hindu Business Line. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
7. "North Bengal-Sikkim Railway Link". Railway Technology. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
8. Balchand, K. (2013-02-07). "Elephant sensors may come up on railway line to Sikkim". The Hindu. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
9. Villagers’ nod to rail survey, The Telegraph, August 28, 2012
10. "Other projects" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
11. Chanda, Aishik (21 February 2018). "Coming Soon: West Bengal - Sikkim Rail project". www.newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
12. Financial Express. Indian Railways new Sivok-Rangpo rail project: Travel from West Bengal to Sikkim in just 2 hours. (30 August 2019).
13. "Very soon, travelling to Sikkim by train will be a possibility". Times of India Travel. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
14. "Sikkim expected to get rail connectivity by 2023: official". Hindustan Times. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
15. NFR all set to ready Sevoke-Rangpo rail route by 2023-end, The Telegraph, 16 Sept 2022.
16. "Vande Bharat train will run in Sikkim's Rangpo by next year". news9live.com. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.