Indian Railway officials have confirmed that Manipur will be to the rest of the country via rail buy 2016.
"It's a tough target, but our plan is to take the first engine up to Tupul by March 2016. So, that is the gift from Indian Railways that we want to give to the people of Manipur. From Tupul to Imphal will take another two years," said Northeastern Frontier Railway (NFR) general manager, Rajesh Kumar Singh, after inaugurating a tunnel.
Singh said the project from Jiribam to Tupul was taking time due to the inhospitable terrain.
"This tunnel has been completed just now. And the total number of tunnels from Jiribam to Tupul is 34, totalling a length of 39 kilometres. So far, we have completed close to 20 kilometres and only nine kilometres are left," he said.
"We are able to make progress of around one kilometre every month," he added.