Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday that the Sevoke-Rangpo rail line would be commissioned in a phase-wise manner in a few months, which would take Sikkim closer to coming under the mammoth Indian Railway network.

Talking to reporters at an event here, Vaishnaw said the work on the SevokeRangpo project was going on very rapidly and once fully commissioned, it would provide both passenger and freight services. “I am very happy to share with you that the progress today is very good. We should start commissioning one section after the other over the next few months. Now, we have reached the stage where we can start commissioning the project,” he said.

The over Rs 4,000 crore rail line connecting Sevoke in Bengal with Rangpo in Sikkim is about 45km-long and will have 14 tunnels, 17 bridges and five stations, including Sevoke, Riyang, Teesta, Melli and Rangpo. A total of 38.65km of the tracks would be passing through tunnels.

“The Tunnel One I have inspected, the bridges I have inspected, and tomorrow when I go back from Sikkim, during daylight, I will be examining and surveying all other tunnels and bridges,” said Vaishnaw.

Apart from providing passenger service, the minister said, the railway line would also help in cargo movement. “We will also provide goods terminal so that whatever products we have from Sikkim can be very easily taken to the world, and whatever requirements of Sikkim are there, we can bring very easily at a low cost, affordable price, to Sikkim,” he said.

Vaishnaw said the stations along the route would be of world-class standard. “That means the heritage of the place, culture of the place, social ethos of the place, and development should go together.... Rangpo station when you see the design, you will feel very happy. We will finalise the design within the next month or so, and then share it with you,” he said.

Asked about the further extension of the rail connectivity to Sikkim, the railway minister said: “The alignment beyond Rangpo will be decided in consultation with the state government.... Currently, we have put three alignment options. The three options are now available, we will all discuss them together and finalise the further expansion of the network.”

The foundation stone for the Sevoke-Rangpo project was laid by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee in 2009, and was to have been completed by 2015. “Tunneling work in our Himalayan region is always a complex work as you are very well aware. This is a seismic zone, so the profile of the tunnel has to be very carefully designed, and the alignment of the tunnel through the hill has to be very carefully created,” said Vaishnaw, explaining, perhaps, the delay in completing the project.

Barring Sikkim, all other north-eastern states have been connected to the rail network. “Before 2014, the allocation for railways used to be very low for the entire northeast. That is why the progress was always very slow,” said Vaishnav, while mentioning the budgetary allocations for railways in the northeast had been increased from Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore during the nine years of the BJP-led NDA regime.