Senior officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) inspected different sites in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts for two major infrastructure projects in north Bengal.

One team visited the Raninagar-Jalpaiguri-Haldibari stretch of the rail route which connects Bangladesh to check the progress of the track electrification.

Another team which also comprised Union minister of state for minority affairs John Barla visited two sites in Alipurduar to select the land for a 200-bed hospital that the central government will build in the town.

In north Bengal, most of the stretches of railway routes have been electrified. However, the 31km-long stretch that extends between Raninagar-Jalpaiguri and Haldibari via Jalpaiguri Town is yet to be electrified. From Haldibari, the route enters Bangladesh.

“The electrification of the tracks is almost finished. We expect electric locos to run along the stretch in seven to 10 days. Today (on Friday), we inspected the entire stretch to take stock of the work’s progress,” said Surendra Kumar, the NFR’s Katihar divisional railway manager.

As of now, diesel locos haul Darjeeling Mail, Haldibari-Calcutta Express and local passenger trains along the 31km stretch.

“Also, the Mitali Express, which runs between New Jalpaiguri and Dhaka Cantonment, is hauled by a diesel loco. Once the electric locos are introduced, the Mitali Express will be hauled by electric locos till the border near Haldibari and from there, diesel engines of Bangladesh Railway will run the train till Dhaka and vice-versa,” said a source.

In Alipurduar, the team visited two possible sites for the proposed super-speciality hospital. One of the sites is near the divisional railway hospital while the other is next to the Officers’ Colony in Alipurduar Junction.

After the visit, railway officials and Barla, who is also the local MP, hinted that the land near the hospital would be used for the new hospital.

“The foundation stone of the hospital is likely to be laid in January. The 200-bed
hospital will be built at an expenditure of Rs 200 crore. The hospital will largely cater
for tea garden residents and people living in remote areas of Alipurduar district,” he said.