Tunnelling work for the ambitious Sivok-Rangpo railway project is almost done, with only a stretch of 3km left right now.

Indra Hang Subba, the Lok Sabha MP from Sikkim, who met Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday, said: “The railway minister has told me that only three kilometres of tunnelling work are left along the Sivok-Rangpo rail link. It is definitely good news for the people of Sikkim and the Kalimpong district of Bengal as the rail route will mitigate travel-related difficulties.”

The project was taken up in 2009 — when chief minister Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister — to include Sikkim in the Indian railway map.

The railway route is also important for strategic reasons as the state sits on the India-China border.

Subba said that the estimated cost of the 44km railway project was ₹12,132 crore out of which around ₹7,032 crore had been incurred till March this year.

In the current fiscal, ₹2,330 crore had been allocated for the Sikkim railway project.

“Altogether, there will be 14 tunnels along a total stretch of 39km on the route. Tunnelling has been completed in 36km,” said Subba.

Along this mountainous railway route, 22 major and minor bridges will have to be built.

The length of the longest tunnel will be 5.3km while the longest bridge will be 425 metres long.

The railways plan to finish this ambitious project by 2025.

The MP also said that the Union railway minister told him that the railways had sanctioned the proposal for the final location survey to extend the railway tracks to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.

The survey would be carried out to prepare a detailed project report of the project.

“We are eagerly waiting for the completion of the project. This railway link will serve as a transformative catalyst, propelling Sikkim’s growth, particularly in the tourism and hospitality sectors,” said the MP.