Bairabi-Sairang broad gauge rail link expected by Mar'18:Virdi

Construction of the Bairabi-Sairang broad gauge rail link was expected to be completed by March 2018, North East Frontier Railway General Manager R S Virdi today said.
Addressing a press conference in Aizawl today, Virdi said compensation on land to be damaged by the construction was settled, but did not rule out future complications.
He said there would be 23 tunnels stretching over nine km and several high bridges stretching over seven km in the proposed 51-km-long Bairabi-Sairang railway route.
The construction work would be undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 2,384 crore and would be a challenging project due to the difficult terrain, he said.

Virdi said conversion of the metre gauge Katakhal to Bairabi into a broad gauge rail link was expected to be over by March 2016.
Mizoram-Assam border town Bairabi was the lone railhead linking Mizoram with the rest of the country by Railways.